


The Kids Aren't Alright

by sundaycandy



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Real World, Bubbline, F/F, F/M, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, and heavy use of swearing, and trust, and youth, bonnie is the main character, kids being kids, rating is due to the mention of drug use, themes of vulnerability, there's not much to do in the midwest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:49:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24310840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sundaycandy/pseuds/sundaycandy
Summary: Bonnibel Banner is fifteen when circumstances beyond her control force her to leave her hometown of San Diego for the middle of nowhere, Ohio, to live with her estranged Aunt Lolly, a woman she remembers very little about. In a town so small, she's expecting nothing but studying and loneliness until graduation, but her neighbors Finn and Jake Martins have plenty of friends of their own and are determined to prevent that. And then, of course, there's Marceline.Real world slow burn Bubbline AU set in the midwest.
Relationships: Finn the Human/Huntress Wizard, Flame Princess/Patience St. Pim, Jake the Dog/Lady Rainicorn, Princess Bubblegum/Marceline
Comments: 30
Kudos: 133





	1. Arrival

**June 1 ******

********

********

_Stuck in the jet wash  
Bad trip, I couldn't get off  
Maybe I bit off more than I could chew  
Overhead of the aqua blue _  
-The Kids Aren't Alright, Fall Out Boy__

____

__

There were worse places to be than northeast Ohio, probably. But Bonnibel Banner simply couldn't think of any. She watched as the state unfolded beneath her, a thousand feet beneath the plane. Her headphones were rattling the outdated Fall Out Boy music, something comforting that reminded her of being an angsty middle schooler. 

The last month felt like a blur. It had all happened so fast, and there had been no other option but to send Bonnibel to Aunt Lolly’s in Ohio to stay indefinitely. It was the beginning of summer, and her few friends had been devastated that all the plans they'd made were suddenly out of the question. Not to mention Bonnibel leaving, and no way of knowing if or when she would return. The goodbyes had been … uncomfortable and full of squishy emotion. 

And now, after a four-hour plane ride, here it was. Ohio. Her stomach turned. Aunt Lolly was a sweet (if eccentric) lady with no family of her own and an impressive house out in the cornfields. Bonnibel hadn't visited her or the midwest in ten years, though, and had never felt any desire to emigrate from her home state. 

But sometimes there was little choice. Ned was more important. Much more important. She could suffer through a few years in the middle of nowhere for her brother. No problem. 

On the bright side, it being summer meant that she wouldn't have to worry about the stress of a new school for another few months. It would give herself time to get acquainted with the area, maybe make a friend. If there were anyone around to talk to, that was. 

Maybe she was being a little harsh. The population couldn't be that low, right? 

Well, if it was, at least that would give her some time to herself. 

She tried to settle her mind, not that it worked very often. The plane would be landing soon, and she would have to present a cheerful front to her aunt. No need to bring out anyone's waterworks with her melancholy. 

Aunt Lolly was waiting for her at the baggage claim, strawberry blonde hair pulled into a high bun, smile wide and genuine. Her aunt was a decade younger than her parents at the age of 38, and had been the one to keep their childhood home after the death of Bonnibel’s grandparents. 

She was a sweet lady, and well put-together. “Bonnie! How was your flight honey?” She immediately enveloped Bonnibel in a hug, and she smelled like vanilla. 

Bonnibel returned the hug, admittedly comforted by it. 

“It was alright, Aunt Lolly. It's good to see you.” 

“Oh, of course, although I'm sure it's a bummer to be stuck in Ohio of all places.”

Bonnibel actually laughed as she retrieved her luggage and they made their way to the parking deck of the Cleveland airport. “It could be worse. I'm sure it isn't that bad here. There must be a reason you chose to stay, right?”

Her aunt smiled, then, a glimmer in her eye. “It has its charms. They may take some time to grow on a west coast girl like yourself, though. And you'll have to get used to the rain. And the weather in general, I suppose.”

“What do you mean?”

Aunt Lolly just laughed. “I'm not even going to tell you Bonnie, you'll find out soon enough.”

Had Aunt Lolly always been this funny and witty? If so, it was a crime that Bonnibel hadn't spoken to her more over the last few years.

Well, they had time to rectify it now, she guessed. 

“The drive back home is about an hour and a half,” Aunt Lolly said as they got in the car, “So the question is, when did you eat last? Was it on the plane?”

“No, the last time I ate was a few hours before my flight,” Bonnibel admitted. They were pulling out of the parking deck now, and heading to the nearest freeway exit. The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was orange and pink over a landscape of endless green and bits of city. 

“Hmmm. Okay. We'll stop for food on the way back. It's gonna be too late for cooking by the time we get back to the house.” 

It wasn't nearly as uncomfortable or awkward as Bonnibel had been expecting. Aunt Lolly actually seemed kind of cool? Maybe this would be better than she thought. 

Lolly pulled into a Denny's about twenty minutes later in a town Bonnie hadn't bothered to make note of. It was simply a pit stop anyways, they were still about an hour away from home. 

It was strange, being in a familiar restaurant in an unfamiliar place. If she ignored the landscape outside the windows, she could almost pretend she was still in California. Almost. 

Bonnibel got pancakes, and while they ate Aunt Lolly gave her the run-down. 

“So, the school you're going to officially begins the school year on September 1st, just so you know. I know you like details. We’ll go to enroll you and everything in a few days, and then you have the whole summer to kick it, pretty much.” 

It seemed deceptively simple. “So what exactly do I … do? What do teens in Ohio do? And what kind of rules do you have?”

Aunt Lolly smiled again. Bonnie was beginning to feel like there was a private joke she wasn't privy to that her aunt found exceedingly amusing. It didn't bother her, though. It just felt a little confusing.

“Well, I couldn't possibly tell you what teens in Ohio do, as I haven't been one in many years. And what we did when we were your age is something I'll be keeping private. It would give you bad ideas.” 

Bonnibel’s mouth fell open. “Aunt Lolly, you were a delinquent, weren't you?” 

Her aunt winked good-naturedly. “I think you'll find out for yourself sooner or later.”

It felt … almost fun. Her aunt was definitely far more relaxed than her parents. This could be good.

By the time they returned to the road, night had fallen. The rest of the journey back to the old Banner house went by quickly, a blur of countryside and highway and stars, until they reached a small town by the name of Maple Valley.

“Oh, your mom mentioned that your favorite science is chemistry, so I went ahead and set up a little lab for you at the house. We had some - well, a lot of extra space in the house so … well, you'll see. Let's get you settled in.”

Lolly grabbed Bonnibel's suitcase from the trunk and led her inside of the gorgeous house. Bonnie hadn't seen it since she was a child, and she hardly remembered it. It was beautiful and proud, lovely white wood and red shutters with a matching door. Neat little hedges lined the front of the building. It was beautiful in a rustic way, even at night. 

Bonnibel thought maybe … she could get used to this. Lean in, right? Go with the grain? She could give it a shot, at least. It seemed like Lolly would give her independence. That was very different from home, right? Right.

When they got inside, Bonnie was amazed at the immaculate condition of her aunt’s house. Every surface was clean, and the kitchen had marble countertops and soft lights. 

“So, essentially I decided to go ahead and make the basement into an apartment for you. Well, it was already furnished and everything, so I didn't actually do much of anything other than some fresh paint and a chemistry setup. I hope you like it, though. I'll let you get comfortable and we can go shopping tomorrow. Get you some clothes, some necessities, maybe some stuff for your room?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, Aunt Lolly. It means a lot that you're doing all of this.” 

“Of course, honey.” Her aunt’s expression appeared somber for a moment. “I didn't want to bring anything up, because I know you might not want to talk about it, but I love you and your brother very much and I'm happy to have you here. It's helping him, and that's important, but I wanted to make this as painless and pleasant for you as I could. You still deserve a good adolescence, you know?” 

It was unbelievably kind. “Thank you.” She was afraid that if she tried to say anything else, she would cry. Aunt Lolly just gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder and told her to head downstairs and get some rest. 

The basement was much larger than Bonnibel had realized, much larger than most real apartments, actually. There was a living room complete with its own television and PlayStation, set up in front of a pristine cream couch with maroon pillows. The walls were a light coffee color. The basement also included its own bathroom and kitchen, as well as two bedrooms, although one had in fact been converted into a little makeshift lab. Her aunt had set up a few simple tables and had purchased a set of common lab chemicals for experiments, as well as some beakers and other basic equipment. It was incredibly thoughtful. It was ideal overall. 

Her own bedroom had a queen-sized bed, an oak dresser, and a spacious closet. There was nothing to complain about, and it was a relief. Her dad, of course, had assured her that Lolly was a great woman and his favorite sibling by far, but she had still expected there to be something wrong with her. It almost seemed too good to be true. 

For now, she decided to just enjoy the convenience of a beautiful house and a kind relative, changing into pajamas and climbing into bed. Her fatigue hit her all at once, and she had no problem drifting away after just a few minutes. 

… 

The next morning, Bonnie woke up around nine. She showered and threw on a t-shirt and some jeans before heading upstairs to see if her aunt was awake yet. Conveniently, she was, and she was cooking breakfast. French toast and hash browns. 

“Good morning!” Her aunt, just like the day before, was in a cheerful mood. Maybe it was her default? Bonnibel wasn't certain yet. “I was thinking we could start with the mall after breakfast? I know you didn't bring all of your clothes and you're going to need some warmer things anyways for the fall. And then I thought we could go to the grocery store and you can get whatever you want for your kitchen and your bathroom. Maybe the bookstore? Unless I've seriously misread your personality, you'd probably like some books?” 

Bonnie smiled as her aunt set a plate in front of her. “Yeah, that sounds like a good agenda.” 

By the end of the day, Bonnibel was trying not to think about the amount of money her aunt had spent on her. She had not been kidding about shopping. She had insisted Bonnibel was a young girl and needed to stock up on nice clothes and shoes. They'd gotten plenty of food for the downstairs kitchen for when Bonnibel wanted to make her own food, and Lolly told her to simply leave a shopping list for her every Wednesday, which was apparently her usual grocery day. 

It all felt very normal already. It all felt so bearable. 

Bonnibel was just getting into her pajamas again when she received a call from her father. 

“Hey, sweetie, how are you settling in?” 

“I'm doing alright, Dad. Aunt Lolly’s pretty cool. She gave me the whole basement.” 

“Sounds like a dream come true, I always wished Mom and Dad would give me the basement. They had your uncles share it, though, since they were older. They used to get away with quite a lot of - you know, it's probably better if I don't tell you. I wouldn't want to give you any ideas.” 

Funny, that Lolly had said something so similar the night before. Apparently her father and his siblings had been quite the troublemakers as teenagers, but it was ludicrous to imagine that Bonnibel would do the same. In fact, all the space would probably be wasted since Bonnie doubted she would be making any close friends or making mischief of any kind. Making friends had been hard enough in San Diego, and that was where there were plenty of people around all the time. Here? There wasn't a shot in hell of actually making any friends she could feel close to. At best, she would meet some study partners, people to pass time with in school or at functions. Not people to bond with or open up to. 

Well, that's what she thought, anyways.

A few days later, Lolly took her ten minutes up the road to the local high school. They got her enrolled, the ancient administrative assistant smiling brightly at Lolly as she stamped Bonnie’s enrollment records. “We can't wait for her to join the Mountain Lion Family here at Maple Valley High School! You had such excellent grades here, Lola. I know if she's under your wing she'll do just great, although her father may have been a bit of a ruffian. How is Michael doing these days, anyhow?” 

“Oh, he's just fine, Mrs. Akers. Still working at that hospital in San Diego. Bonnie's just here to get away from the city. We all feel that the peace and quiet of Maple Valley is best for a young girl.”

Mrs. Akers nodded like this was the wisest thing she had ever heard. Bonnibel was just relieved the school wouldn't know about the real reason she'd moved. The last thing she needed was anyone feeling sorry for her.

“You're absolutely right, Lola. It's where we all grew up, and most of us turn out just fine. People run away to cities and leave the country all just to realize they're only runnin’ from themselves.” 

Hm. Actually, that might be true. Still, Bonnibel was hoping this conversation would end soon. She just wanted to go home and continue the experiments she'd been working on in her lab. Just small stuff involving sucrose, but it would still be more interesting than this. 

When they got home, however, Aunt Lolly had other plans. 

“We're going to be having a few people over tonight, Bonnie. Just some neighbors and their kids, that kind of thing. I'm going to grill some chicken. It's gonna be fun. Anyways, I told everyone to come around 7.”

Socializing? Bonnibel was dreading the thought. It was more than likely that Lolly had organized this solely to introduce her to the neighborhood, but people Bonnie's own age rarely understood or really liked her. The thought of having to impress a group of them who all happened to live on the same road as her sounded nerve-wracking. 

She tried to dress well, throwing on blue jeans and a floral summer blouse her aunt had purchased her. She slipped on some shoes and headed upstairs just around 6:45 to make sure she was around to meet people. 

Most of the neighbors were uninteresting, although charming. Most notably she met a pair of teenage boys - one her own age and one a year ahead of her, and apparently brothers. They were roughly the same height, although one was a little burlier and had a sandier color to his hair, while his brother had a bright blonde. 

“This is Margaret and Joshua Martins and their sons, Finn and Jake. You'll get along great! Guys, this is my niece, Bonnibel.”

The boys greeted her enthusiastically as Margaret and Joshua pulled her aunt into a conversation about something Bonnie didn't quite catch. 

“Hey, Bonnibel,” said Finn with a bright smile to match his radiant hair. “So, we heard you're from San Diego?” 

“Yes, that's true.” Bonnibel knew that was a dry response, but her brain tended to do that when she met new peers. 

“Must be pretty different from Maple Valley. Why'd you move?” asked Jake, his eyes seeming almost suspicious. 

Bonnibel shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “The city's not as good as you think. I thought the space out here would be nice, and my parents loved the idea, because they think Ohio's a lot safer than San Diego.” 

“They might have a point there,” Jake said with a laugh, suspicion dissipated. That had been easy enough, she supposed. 

“So, what do you do for fun?” Finn asked. 

“Uh, I mean, I like chemistry? My aunt set up a lab for me downstairs, so that's cool. In San Diego I used to skateboard sometimes.” Way to sound like a loser, Bonnibel. 

“Skateboarding? Are you serious?” There was admiration in Finn’s eyes. “We don't even have a skate park anywhere near here, but we sure do have boards. You should come skating with us at the steel mill sometime.” 

Jake was nodding. “For sure. It's basically this massive old round parking lot that's pretty smooth still, miraculously, and we like to go skate around it in the summer. It's fun.” 

“Actually, Jake, didn't Ella say she and the girls were gonna head down there tonight?”

“You know what, Finn, I think she did. If I recall correctly, they invited us. But we promised Mom and Dad we would come welcome Bonnibel here.” 

“But, what better way to welcome Bonnibel than by taking her to the coolest place in the valley?”

Bonnibel sighed. “Boys, I can see where this is going, but I think it would be rude to my aunt for me to ditch this party.”

Finn and Jake looked at each other and fell into nearly hysterical laughter. “I just don't think there's anything to worry about,” said Jake when he had recovered. “Hey, just out of curiosity, you haven't spent a lot of time with Lolly, have you?” 

Bonnibel blushed, feeling out of the loop and confused again. Were these boys closer to her own aunt than she was? Something in her was ashamed of that if it were true. 

“No. Not really. She only came to San Diego a couple of times, and I've only been here once.” 

“Explains why we've never met,” Finn replied with a nod. “Well, we can run it by her if it'll make you feel better.” 

What was that supposed to mean? That Lolly wouldn't care in the slightest?

Well, she didn't. When Finn bounded up to her and asked if she was okay with them taking Bonnibel to the old steel mill to do some skating, she seemed delighted by the idea. “Of course! Bonnibel, I didn't know you could skate! Did you bring a board?” 

Bonnibel modded. “Yeah, I disassembled mine and brought it. Let me just go get it.” 

It was lucky that she had decided to reassemble her board the day before, and it was leaning against the wall downstairs. Finn and Jake were waiting upstairs, and they both smiled when she returned, board tucked under her arm. 

“And she delivers! Alright, B-bell, let's get the car and do some shredding!” Jake led them across the street to a large blue house that had a few cars in the driveway, one of which was a small red Chevy that the brothers hopped into. When Bonnie got in the back, they immediately started explaining the situation. 

“So, it's a Saturday, and there might be some  
other people there, because everyone knows the steel mill is the place to chill in the summer, even people who don't skate. They come hang with their friends who do and usually do … other stuff.” The way Jake had concluded his sentence made her a little wary, but she assumed it was probably just underage drinking or something equally typical for their age.

“Anyway, you'll have fun, our friends are cool,” Finn assured her. 

It only took fifteen minutes to get to the old mill, which was already crawling with a few dozen teenagers. Jake pulled two classic boards out of the trunk, handing one to his brother, and then led them about twenty yards away to where a group of girls was gathered. When they reached them, the girls gave them all a greeting. 

“Alright everyone, this is Bonnibel Banner. She's here from San Diego and she's cool.” That about summed it up. 

“Oh my god, aren't you Lolly’s niece?” exclaimed one of the girls, a blonde girl with a voice that could only be described as full of attitude, and what Bonnibel assumed were purple contacts (rather than purple eyes, which was a far less likely possibility).

“Yes, I am. How do you guys know her, anyway?” 

“Only because she's a party legend. Are you kidding? You don't know this?” 

“You'll have to forgive Ella’s tone,” chimed in a gentle voice from the girl next to the first one, another blonde, but much softer-spoken. “It's just that we all know Lolly. She's pretty much a legend for having a 4.0 for all of high school while simultaneously holding the most wicked parties and getting all of Maple Valley High absolutely wasted.” 

“Rumor has it,” chimed in Ella, “Lolly showed up to her own commencement with a hangover, sweating vodka and ecstasy while she gave her valedictorian speech.” 

“Yeah,” added Jake, “And Lemon Grob, our principal who's as old as fucking dirt was the principal then too, and he could smell the liquor on her and didn't do a damn thing because the entire staff, including Ole Lemon Grob, loved her. She was a model student and she got away with everything.” 

Bonnibel's jaw fell open; she couldn't help it. She knew her dad and his siblings had gotten into some trouble, but from the sound of it, her aunt had raised hell and somehow never gotten in any kind of trouble for any of it. She wasn't sure if she was proud or ashamed. 

“Wow, you guys, I think you might've ruined her image of her aunt,” laughed one of the other three girls in the group, a girl with long orange hair and a smattering of freckles. All of these girls were uncomfortably pretty. 

That was another thing nobody needed to know just yet. While sexuality was a non-issue in San Diego in modern times, Ohio was rather unpredictable. There was a mix of ideologies and beliefs, and she wasn't sure whether it would be so accepted here. Better to wait it out. 

“Well, anyway, your aunt’s pretty cool. She's been known to be the plug from time to time, and I’m sure you'll get the benefit of that,” said Finn. 

“I don't know, I'm not really the type to do any of those things that she used to do.” 

Ella smirked at her, one brow raising. “Ever been to a real party, Banner?” 

“No. Not my scene.”

“That simply will not do. Come on, Lady, let's go round up some of these posers and let them know there's a party at the Parks residence tonight.” It turned out the gentle girl was named Lady, and she followed Ella off to talk to some of their peers, which left Bonnibel with the boys, the ginger girl, and another girl whose hair had been dyed a dark emerald green. 

“So now you know that was Ella Parks, and she took my girlfriend Lady Jeong with her. This is Phoebe Coal, and Hunter Smith. Anyways, now that we all know each other, the real question is where is Patience?” Jake had turned his attention to Phoebe and pointed an accusing finger at her, causing the girl to blush a revealing shade of pink. 

“Why are you looking at me? As if I have some secret knowledge of her whereabouts? She's just as elusive to me as she is to you.” 

“Sounds a little defensive, Pheebs.” Jake teased, causing Hunter to snicker. 

“Yeah, come on, we know you’ve been boning St. Pim,” Hunter added, giving her friend a slight push on the shoulder. 

“I have not been boning anyone, and I'm pretty sure you can't even call it that with lesbians.” 

Ah. Well. That might answer the sexuality question, then. How convenient if a member of their group were already out. 

“Well, I wouldn't know, I'm not the one in love with the most frigid witch on this earth.” 

“Whose in love with the most frigid witch on this earth?” came a clear voice. Another girl had joined them, her black hair in two low symmetrical buns at the nape of her neck, round black sunglasses fitting perfectly on her face, red lipstick providing a shocking contrast against her pale skin. 

“I guess that depends on who the most frigid witch on this earth is,” countered Jake, pretending to be deep in thought. “Oh wait, it's you hands down, so I guess we all know then.” If looks could kill, Phoebe would have murdered Jake instantly in that moment. Bonnibel didn't miss the daggers she was sending towards the boy. 

“I'm sure I don't know what you mean,” said Patience with raised eyebrows. “You all make these silly little references as if someone you know is in love with me, but I don't know who.” 

“Of course you don't,” said Ella, who had just returned with Lady in tow but had apparently managed to get the gist of the conversation, “You don't get to know. We all get to know and mock you in front of your face because you want to know and we will never tell you.” 

The girl, Patience, shrugged. Her expression was masked by her sunglasses. “I don't care that much. You guys are so desperate for romance. I don't care who it is because I'm not that deprived of love.” 

“You think I'm deprived of love?” snapped Ella, “Because I have six different guys begging me to answer their texts as we speak.” 

Bonnibel marveled at the dynamics unfolding in front of her, the unacknowledged secret she had just been dropped on without so much as a hey-don’t-talk-about-Phoebe's-crush-on-Patience-to-Patience. She hoped there wouldn't be too many secrets to keep track of for these people. She hoped they'd be worth it, at least. 

“Well, anyways, guys, some people from school are coming to Ella’s in like an hour, so if you wanna get any skating done you have about ten minutes until we have to leave to grab some food and drinks for everyone,” explained Lady. 

“Ten minutes?” Jake sounded absolutely wounded. “Lady, we just got here! Bonnibel didn't even get to skate!” 

“You mean you didn't get to skate,” countered Patience before Lady could respond. “And I'm sure this lovely lady would rather be out of the elements and in Ella’s living room eating pizza and playing party games. Right, Bonnibel?” Despite having no formal introduction, Patience smiled at her when she said her name.

“Uh, sure? I don't really care what we do. I don't have anything better to do anyways, it's not like I know where to have fun in Ohio.” 

“Don't you worry, B-bell, we will absolutely teach you,” Jake said. “Ugh, I guess that means we should just head out now. Sorry, you didn't get to skate, girl. But on the bright side, you get to party! Let's go!” 

Lady joined them in Jake’s car, leaving Finn and Bonnibel in the back seat. 

“So,” Bonnibel began tentatively, being careful not to sound too nosy, “Does your friend Phoebe really have a thing for that girl Patience? I'm just asking so I know if it's like, a huge secret or something I shouldn't talk about, you know?” 

“Oh, totally.” Finn looked at her with an expression bordering on serious. “Phoebe’s gay, which like, since you're from California I assume you're probably liberal enough to be cool about that, and if you're not just act like you are because we don't tolerate discrimination. Anyway, Phoebe and I used to date until she realized she was gay, so we broke up no biggie, but then a few months ago it became really obvious to us all that she's got a little crush on Patience.”

“Right,” Jake added, “And Patience never talks about her sexuality, so we don't really know if that's like, a possible thing or not, which is why Phoebe’s been dragging her feet about telling her. She's afraid it'll make the group awkward if Patience doesn't swing that way.” 

Bonnibel had to restrain a laugh. Poor Phoebe. It was hard to use your gaydar on girls you were attracted to; you'd always second-guess yourself. But Bonnibel could see it clear as day. 

“What are you holding in the giggles about, huh Banner?” Jake prodded. 

“Well, I wasn't going to say anything until I knew you were all cool about it, but I'm also gay, and I can tell you for an absolute fact that that Patience girl is not straight.” 

“You're probably right,” agreed Lady, “Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. But Phoebe still won't tell her. So yeah, it's a secret for now. We all tease her about it all day long, obviously, but when Patience is around we don't mention it.”

“That makes sense,” was all Bonnibel could offer in response. 

They pulled into a pizza place by the name of Russo’s, and Finn announced he would be back with the pizzas in ten minutes or less as he hurried out of the car and into the restaurant. When he returned, he had three boxes in his hands and a grin on his face. It had only been four minutes. 

“Apparently Ella already paid when she ordered them, so I just had to wait for them to come out of the oven. They're super fresh, let's go to Ella’s house.” 

They made the drive, meeting up with their friends at a large brick house not far from the pizza place. Ella, Phoebe, and a few other people Bonnibel hadn't met yet were waiting on the massive front porch, some of them holding cigarettes. 

“Hey guys! Thank god you're here, I thought you would take forever getting the food,” Ella called with a wave as they all left the car. 

“Nope! They were basically done as soon as we got there!” Finn replied with a smile, as if this were the best news he'd gotten to share all day. An optimistic kid. Bonnie could respect that. 

The group headed inside, where it became apparent that Ella had whipped up quite a party. There were more people in the house than had been at the steel mill, easily by double, but the Parks residence was more than spacious enough to accommodate everyone. 

“Wow, Ell, you really pulled the big guns huh?” commented Jake as Finn set the pizzas on the island. 

“You know me, Jake, thought we should give Bonnibel a good Maple Valley welcome,” Ella responded with a devious tone. “So, Bonnibel, what kind of guys are you into? I'm sure most of these losers are pretty disappointing compared to those California babes, but I can find you someone.” She punctuated her sentence with a wink, clearly believing in her ability to find Bonnibel the perfect guy. 

“Actually, Ella, I swing the other way.” 

Ella’s mouth fell open in shock as Finn and Jake laughed and Lady smiled knowingly. 

“Are you for real? Ugh, I guess I have to revamp my whole plan then. Fine. Maybe Phoebe can help me find someone for you.” 

Jake was quick to counter this with a “Well, Phoebe can't even talk to girls for herself, so I'm not sure how she's going to help Bonnie here.” 

“Hey!” protested Phoebe. “I can talk to girls. I just don't.” 

“Actually, you probably can talk to girls, at least when you're not madly in love with them,” Finn agreed. 

“Can you guys give it a rest for just one day?” 

“Absolutely not, girl,” said Ella in a faux-apologetic voice. “Maybe one day our bullying will get through to you and you'll finally ask her out.”

“Probably not,” Phoebe replied.

“Well, we have to try anyways,” Ella explained as she shrugged. It seemed to be one of her favorite ways to communicate. 

Just then, Patience walked into the kitchen, trailed by Hunter and a few other girls. Her shades were still in place, despite being indoors. Maybe she was just one of those people. Bonnibel couldn't deny that she looked good. 

“So,” Patience began, “I see the food's here, but where are the drinks?” 

“Check the cooler,” Phoebe responded, pointing to a large blue cooler that was hidden behind the island. Apparently Phoebe, Ella, and Hunter had managed to pick up some alcohol on their way to the house.

“Where are your parents, Ella?” Bonnibel asked out of curiosity as Patience and the girls with her pulled a few wine coolers out and passed them around the circle. Bonnibel was handed a bright pink one, and simply set it on the island in front of her while the others cracked theirs open. She wasn't the partying type. 

“Oh, they go away basically every weekend. Can hardly stand to be here.” 

“Ella, shut up, your parents are on business trips 99% of the time,” Patience said with a laugh. “Stop with this neglected rich girl act. You know those goons love being here.” 

“Whatever, I just think they could rearrange their schedules if they wanted to. It doesn't matter anyways, because it means I have the house to myself on weekends.” She took a long sip from a yellow wine cooler for dramatic effect. “And who doesn't want that, right?” 

“So, is anyone gonna introduce us to the new girl or what?” said one of the strangers who'd followed Patience in. She was short, with black hair in a high bun, arms covered in tattoos that looked vaguely … runic? and an abrasive yet playful demeanor. 

“Oh, fine, but don't get any ideas, she is not being absorbed into your little goth girl group,” said Ella warningly. 

“As if she could!” responded the first girl, “She looks like she doesn't have a punk bone in her body.” 

“Well then why do you care who she is?” 

“Okay, okay, everybody hush!” said Lady in a calm but authoritative voice. “Maja, Marceline, Keila. This is Bonnibel Banner. Lolly’s niece from San Diego.”

Bonnibel would've had difficulty remembering all these names if her memory weren't superb. As it was, she was wondering if she would even need to. Were any of these people going to be consistently in her life? Was it necessary to memorize and impress them all? 

Better not to risk it. Either way, the girls seemed impressed at the sound of her aunt’s name. Typical. 

“Banner, huh? How'd you end up back here?” asked the girl Lady had called Keila. 

“Uh, I took a plane?” 

Laughter erupted around her, and Jake clapped a hand to her back. “You're alright, Bonnibel.” 

“Okay, well now that introductions are done and our new friend Bonnibel's met all you semi-relevant B-listers, can we go out back?” Ella inquired, sounding bored. 

“That sounds like the best idea you've had all week,” said Patience. “Probably since you suggested it last week!” 

“Alright, then, y'all get your food and drinks and let's head out so these posers can get drunk in my house in peace.” 

Bonnibel was intending on leaving her unopened drink in the kitchen, but Lady caught her as the others were filing out the back patio door. “Uh-uh, Banner, you better crack open that cold one. Trust me, you'd rather do it now than have Ella or Patience realize you didn't when we get outside. The teasing will be relentless.” 

“I'm just not really one for drinking or anything.” 

Lady smiled sympathetically. “And I get that, since you've probably never had the experience, but you can either loosen up in the next five minutes or be mocked and quite frankly bored out of your mind for the next three years.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“There's only two things for a teenager to do in Ohio, Bonnibel. We've just introduced you to the first one, and the second one is probably being set up by Jake as we speak. I'm not trying to peer pressure you or anything, I'm just saying there's not much else to do around here and you'll have more fun if you let yourself live, you know? But the choice is yours.” 

Bonnibel looked at the drink in front of her for a moment before giving a long sigh and twisting the top off. Lady smiled again. 

“Atta girl. Let's go see if they're all ready.” 

Bonnie didn't have time to ask what exactly would be going on outside, because Lady took her hand and pulled her out the door without another warning. By that point, asking was unnecessary. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Jake had pulled out a small rolling tray and was currently working on what appeared to be the fourth blunt he had rolled. 

Weed had never been Bonnie's scene either, but it was legal in California and honestly less stigmatized than drinking was. This was something she could roll with, right? Just some weed, and a slight buzz from the alcohol. Back home, most of her friends had started smoking by middle school, but Bonnie just wasn't the sneaky type and had never felt the urge to try it. 

But here she was, in Ohio, being pulled down to sit on a picnic blanket with Finn and Phoebe. The group had formed a circle with everyone sitting on a blanket, towel, or cushion, although the three girls who had been with Patience had disappeared, leaving just the people Bonnibel had met at the steel mill. That was a relief. Something about the three girls was intimidating in a way Bonnibel couldn't quite place, especially the tallest one who hadn't spoken. Marceline. 

“Alright, B-bell, glad to see Lady convinced you to join us. We thought you might be a square and bail out.” 

“Nah, Jake, give the girl some credit. She just needed to be around the right people,” Lady said with a dismissive wave. “And now she is.” 

“Bold of you to assume that you guys are the ‘right people,’” said Bonnibel with a smile. 

“Clearly we are,” said Jake as he lifted the first blunt to his mouth and lit it without so much as a downward glance, “or you wouldn't be sitting in this circle with that open drink right now.” 

“Plus you're about to get introduced to the world of drugs,” pointed out Phoebe, “And it only took us one night as a group to corrupt you. That’s something the great state of California couldn't accomplish in like fifteen years.”

“Oh, Pheebs, I think we still have more corrupting to do this summer,” said Patience with a smirk. “This is just the beginning.” 

When the blunt reached her, Lady handed it to her with a “Just make sure you're really inhaling. It's gonna hurt at first and you might feel a little nauseous from the wrap, but it's super mellow. Nothing to worry about.” 

And then, Bonnibel Banner had her first experience with drinking and drug use on the same night. Kind of stereotypically teen, really, but from the way the people around her were acting this was a typical Saturday night for them, although there wasn't always an entire party going on in the house. Apparently it was usually just them, and occasionally the goth girls would join them at Patience’s invitation. 

Being high wasn't unpleasant, although Lady had been right about the wrap being somewhat nauseating. The blonde girl assured her it got much better with time. 

That night, Finn and Jake dropped her off around eleven. 

“Did you have a good time with the boys, Bonnie?” her aunt asked cheerfully when Bonnie walked in. Her aunt was sitting at the kitchen table, and it looked like she had been working on her laptop. 

“Yeah, Aunt Lolly. Sorry I'm home so late, but they wanted to introduce me to some of their friends and -”

Her aunt held up a hand. “You're not late, Bon. For future reference, I’d prefer you to be home by midnight. It's only a quarter past eleven. That is early by my standards. Anyways, I'm glad you had fun. Finn and Jake are good kids, and so are their friends from what I can tell.” 

“Oh. Well, okay.” 

“Oh, and just so you know, the smell of weed lingers for a while. Try to keep that in mind if you ever have to go to school or be in public after you've been smoking.” The tone in her aunt’s voice implied that those things were likely to happen at some point. 

Bonnibel blushed, guilty, certain a punishment would follow her aunt’s remark. But none came. 

“I - so, you're not, like, mad?” 

Her aunt laughed. “Oh man. Mad? No. I told you there's not much for kids your age to do around here. Might as well take entertainment where you can find it, right? Besides, it would make me a hypocrite. You'll be fine, just be careful.” 

“Are you gonna tell my parents or anything?” 

“What, and make your mother think I can't take care of you? Or that you're gonna somehow become a crackhead out here? I'm good. Just don't make it a problem for yourself and it won't be. A little fun never hurt anybody. Not out here, anyway.” 

Something in her was relieved at that. It was so unexpected to essentially be told that her aunt didn't mind a little partying. It made Bonnibel feel incredibly trusted. It also made her uncomfortably aware that her aunt wouldn't be the disciplinarian type, meaning she was entirely responsible for keeping herself on track. 

But when had Bonnibel ever failed to keep herself on track? Never. There was no one better suited for the job, so it only made things easier if her aunt was of the live-and-let-live variety, right? 

As she drifted into sleep, her mind was swirling with new names and faces and a pleasant feeling. Like they might become her friends. At least, it seemed like Finn and Jake would, and probably Lady too. That would be more friends than she could really claim to have left at home. An unexpected turn of events.


	2. The Devil and the Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonnie spends some more time with her peers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Tbh i've been having some issues getting this chapter to format properly, but hopefully it's all taken care of now. Anyways, there's a Calvin and Hobbes reference in this chapter, so I'll shoutout the first person who notices it (there was also a very small AVPM ref in Chap 1, bonus points if you picked up on that one).
> 
> Anyways, no Marcy in this chapter, but you'll see a lot more of her in the next one. Also, you get your first change in perspective in this one :)

**June 9th ******

********

********

_Fall to your knees bring on the rapture,  
Blessed be the boys time can't capture,  
On film or between the sheets,  
I always fall from your window to the pitch black street. ___

____

____

Bonnibel was on her couch, curled up with a book she'd gotten at the local Barnes and Noble with Lolly. It was a classic, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Bonnibel was already obsessed after only a few pages. One of her old Spotify playlists was on shuffle at a low volume on the TV.

She'd had a pleasant morning; had woken up and made herself some coffee with her own coffee maker (having her own kitchen was still so surreal, although Lolly typically cooked dinner for the both of them), and she was planning on reading well into the afternoon. 

The Martins brothers, however, had a distinctly different plan. Without giving her so much as a courtesy text, they both bounded down the stairs into the basement with only a brief knock at the door. 

“Hey, B-bell, Lolly let us in!” said Finn. 

“That doesn't explain why you're here, though,” Bonnibel said neutrally, although she wasn't bothered by the intrusion. It was nice to feel like they wanted to see her. 

“Well, we figured you might wanna skate or go get lunch with us and Lady or something,” Jake began, “but right now I'm looking at the brand new PS4 hooked up to your TV. Do you play?” 

“Oh, not really, I think Lolly just got it as a catch-all? Like because you can put apps on it and use it for TV, and I guess she figured I'd want to play it too, but video games aren't really my thing.” 

“Well, did she get you any games?” asked Finn thoughtfully. 

“Not on a disc, but she bought a few things on digital download? I'm not sure if there's anything good, but you can check.” She handed the boys each a controller without a word, planning on going back to her book. 

“So you were just gonna sit here and read all day?” asked Jake. 

“Yes, pretty much,” she answered, turning the page as Finn excitedly announced that she had some first-person shooter game the boys had been wanting for weeks since it was released. Bonnibel had never even heard of it, but told them they were welcome to play as much as they wanted.

“Oh nice, looks like our afternoon’s booked solid!” Finn said with an air-punch as he loaded up the game. 

“So, what do you think about our friends?” Jake asked. Bonnibel started, not expecting to be asked so blunt a question. 

“They're nice. They seem a little complicated, but who isn't?” 

“That's a polite way of putting it,” Jake muttered. “You can go ahead and say ‘absolutely loony bananas’, because that's what those goons are. They're cool, though. They probably seem like a lot to keep up with, but you're a smart kid.” 

“Yeah. Plus it seemed like Patience and Ella both liked you, and they're both notorious for freezing out new people,” Finn added. 

Bonnibel simply nodded, hoping to return to her book. No dice. The brothers were a talkative pair. 

“Anyways, B-bell, Finn’s birthday is on the fifteenth, and we're all going up to Cedar Point. Probably gonna hotbox the car on the way home, get some dinner and call it a day. You in?” 

“Define ‘all’. I met quite a lot of people at Ella's.” 

“Oh just the usual. Us, Lady, Ella, Phoebe and Hunter, and probably Patience? She tends to avoid giving straight answers but she almost always shows up.” 

So not too big of a group, then. Not including herself, that was seven people. She could live with seven, even if it was more people than she was used to spending time with. 

“Well, if there's probably eight people going, then who’s driving separately?” she asked.

“Oh, nobody!” answered Finn. “Mom and Dad let us take the minivan for stuff like this, so we're all good.” 

“So you're in?” The question came from the older brother, whose eyes were focused on the game on the screen. 

“Yeah, sure. Sounds fun.”

“Good. We're heading out early so make sure you're ready to leave by 7:15am sharp, because we gotta pick up the others too and there's no time to waste since the park opens at 10.”

“That's very specific planning, Jake,” she commented, “I'm impressed.” 

“Hah, yeah, it's an unusual feat of organization, but we gotta maximize time. Plus it's Finn's birthday, and we have an extra stop to make on the way up.” 

Finn smiled. “Jake won't admit it but he got me a super-specialty cake, and the extra stop is picking it up on the way.” 

“Finn, I already told you we didn't get you no cake. We're just stopping at a rest stop halfway because you know Ella won't make the two-hour drive without a bathroom break.” 

Somehow, Bonnibel didn't quite buy that, but she let it go. It wasn't her job to help ruin any of Finn's birthday surprises. 

So, the afternoon slipped by like that, the boys playing video games and talking to her while she occasionally snuck in some reading. 

You know that feeling when you're doing something like hanging out with two new friends on your couch, and something in you knows intuitively that it's going to become a regular occurrence? That feeling was settling over Bonnie like a light blanket. 

That was the day when she decided Finn and Jake were her friends. Lolly made them some chicken strips for lunch, and it felt so normal. So unlike the mostly-awkward friendships she had at home.

Maybe the midwest did have its charms. Certainly two of them were named Finn and Jake Martins.

… 

The next morning, Bonnibel woke to a text message from none other than Ella Parks, who Bonnibel hadn't realized even had her number. 

_Unknown number 8:45am: Hey girl, it's Ella, you'd better be awake within an hour because we're going to the lake for a surprise girls’ day. Picking you up at ten, sis. ___

____

____

She looked at the time. 9:38. Of course. 

_Bonnibel 9:40am: Yeah, I’m almost ready, sounds good._

__

__

_Ella 9:41am: Don't lie to me, bitch, I know you just woke up. Just make sure you get dressed fast._

__

__

To her credit, she managed to shower in just six minutes, and she quickly threw on a pair of jean shorts and a tee. It was supposed to be in the eighties that day, and a trip to the lake didn't sound like such a bad idea, despite her annoyance at the late notice. 

Rather than sending a text, Ella chose to just lay on the horn as soon as she pulled in, undoubtedly irritating the entire neighborhood. Bonnibel hurried out to the car, eager for Ella to stop the theatrics. 

Lady and Hunter were already in the car waiting when Bonnie slid into the backseat. 

“Took you long enough,” Ella said, but Bonnibel knew the annoyance in her voice was just a natural facet of her personality, and had little to do with Bonnie herself. 

“Yeah, yeah, where's this lake you're taking me?” 

“Lake Erie, dumbass, this is Ohio,” Ella retorted. 

“That's not fair, there are a lot of other lakes in Ohio we could have been going to. Some of them are closer actually,” Lady argued. 

“She's right, what's got you so wound up?” added Hunter from the passenger seat. 

“Ugh, it's just Brad being a jerk again. I caught him flirting with Melissa. I told him if he did that again we would be done, but he swears he'll change.” 

“He won't,” said Hunter flatly. 

“You don't know what it's like, Hunter, we all know you and Finn are gonna get married or something one day so you don't even have to worry.” 

“Oh, are you and Finn dating?” Bonnibel asked the green-haired girl. 

“No,” she said, cheeks blushing a delicate pink, “Everyone just thinks we will. We're just good friends.” 

“Yeah, okay Hunter, but we know that when Finn finally decides to be a man and asks you out, you're going to say yes.” 

“You don't know anything,” countered Hunter with a feigned seriousness. 

“Please.” Bonnibel could see Ella's eye roll from the back seat. And then the blonde girl followed with: “So, do you guys think Phoebe and St. Pim are gonna bang on their way up to the lake? It's a looooong drive.” She was smiling.

“Oh definitely,” confirmed Hunter sagely. 

“I don't think Phoebe will ever work up the courage to try anything, though,” pointed out Lady. 

“Are you kidding?” Ella's response was incredulous. “She won't have to pretty soon. St. Pim’s gonna go feral and tear her clothes off one of these days if Phoebe keeps making her wait.” 

“Making her wait?” repeated Bonnibel. 

“Oh, Ella just has this dumb theory -” began Lady, only to be cut off by the girl in question. 

“It's not a theory, Lady, this is an unarguable fact. Anyways, Bonnibel, it's pretty obvious that they have a mutual attraction, but they're both waiting for the other to make the first move.” 

“I thought it was just Phoebe? And none of you knew if Patience was even gay?” 

“Okay, that's what these idiots believe, but you just have to pay attention. They're like, actually in love. Sickening.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“Why don't you just watch the way Patience treats Phoebe today and see for yourself if it looks one-sided or not,” Ella said with a shrug. 

That sounded fair, if a little invasive. 

“It's not invasive when they act this way in front of us all knowingly, Banner,” Ella assured her, as if she were telepathic. 

The drive up to the lake after that was mostly full of music and loud gossiping over said music, facilitated by Ella. When they got to the beach, Ella noted loudly that Patience and Phoebe had yet to arrive. “You know what that means.” 

“It doesn't mean anything, dumbass,” Hunter said, as if purposely trying to antagonize the blonde. 

“It means they stopped so they could bang.” 

“Who stopped so they could bang?” Ah. It seemed Patience and Phoebe had pulled in just a few minutes after Ella had. The girls in question stood just a few inches apart, leaning on Patience’s black Ford as the sun gleamed above them all. 

Ella rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath “You if you had any sense at all.” Bonnibel wasn't sure if Patience hadn't heard or was just ignoring it, but either way the girl smiled brightly as if she hadn't, eyes concealed by sunglasses just like the first time they'd met. 

Phoebe, for her part, was blushing furiously, knowing immediately who Ella had been talking about.

They set up a few towels on the beach, Bonnibel electing to pull out a novel and get some reading done while she lounged in the sun, despite the mockery of Ella. 

. . . 

Phoebe Coal liked to believe she was a good person. At least, she tried her best. She cared about her friends and family, and she always told the truth, even when it worked against her. She had a B+ average in school, and was excellent at martial arts. 

She didn’t know why the universe insisted she had to suffer. Or why her friends found it so endlessly and hysterically funny. There was nothing funny about any of this. The drive up to the lake had been almost torturous for her, because it was a two-hour drive in Patience’s passenger seat. It wasn’t like Phoebe wasn’t used to spending time alone with the taller girl, but something about the way the morning sun was highlighting Patience’s high cheekbones was otherworldly. And captivating. And Phoebe had been having a difficult time trying not to stare. 

And Patience had noticed (she always noticed, of course) and called her out nonchalantly, with a smirk and a “Take a picture, Pheebs, it’ll last longer.” What did that even mean? It was clearly a joke, but what did that imply? That she knew Phoebe couldn’t help herself? Humiliating. Patience St. Pim probably didn’t even like girls. Phoebe knew she was just reading too far into their friendship. 

It would have been so much easier if she could have just been straight. Even bi. If she could have stayed with Finn, she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this. Everything was so much simpler with the blonde boy. _Maybe because you weren’t actually attracted to him, dumbass. _Yeah. Her mind had a point with that one, but still it was hard to imagine any universe where Finn would be more challenging than Patience. How ironic. Patience required a lot of patience.__

____

____

_You need to stop feeding into this fantasy, _she told herself. Just like always, it didn’t hold a lot of weight. It was hard to listen to her better judgment when Patience walked around looking like Venus on legs. And the fact that they’d been spending more time together than ever these last few months wasn’t making things any easier. But what could she do when Patience had gotten her driver’s license the January before and had immediately begun dropping by to see Phoebe more and more, inviting her to hang out alone more and more, hinting that she knew exactly how Phoebe felt more and more?__

____

____

It was enough to make a girl dizzy. At times she wondered if maybe Patience did feel the same way. But hope was something she refused to give herself. The repercussions if she were wrong would simply be too severe. If Phoebe made a move and Patience wasn’t on the same page, it would probably end with Patience making fun of her, or maybe yelling at her. 

She could picture it now: Patience probably wouldn’t even take off her sunglasses to reject her, would simply smirk and say _“You really thought I could feel that way about you, Pheebs? How cute.” _The condescension was worse than any imagined anger Phoebe could fathom. It would be the confirmation that there had never been and would never be anything between them, and Phoebe found the idea of never knowing much easier to bear.__

____

____

_Coward, _taunted her mind. It was true. Just this once, why couldn’t the universe just let her have this one small cowardice? This one small lie? But we never get away with the lies we tell ourselves for long. Phoebe certainly wouldn’t.__

____

____

For the present moment, she was sitting on the beach next to Bonnibel Banner, the new girl from California while the rest of their friends enjoyed the water. This was the famed Lolly’s niece. She seemed cool enough, although a lot less wild than her aunt allegedly had been. 

“So, do you not feel like swimming?” Bonnibel asked her after a few minutes of comfortable silence. The auburn-haired girl hadn’t looked up from her book to ask her question. 

“I don’t really know how. I’ve never liked pools or bodies of water or anything. Even baths used to make me nervous.” The confession was quiet, although it was something the rest of Phoebe’s friends had known and accepted for years. She was always a little embarrassed of having an aversion to something other people found so enjoyable. 

“Huh. Well, that’s alright. You’re not missing out on much.” 

“You don’t like swimming either?” 

“It’s alright. But getting in the water somewhere like this is just messy, you know? I’d have to clean all the sand and stuff off myself and dry off before we got in the car. It just seems like a lot of work today, and sitting in the sun is nice.” 

Phoebe smiled. “You’re kind of a nerd, huh?”

Bonnibel shrugged, but Phoebe could tell she was fighting a smile of her own. “I have been known to act like one from time to time, yes.” 

“What have you two losers been up to?” asked Ella with her usual tone of disinterested interest. Hunter, Lady, and Patience were still in the water and appeared to be playing with a frisbee. 

Phoebe shrugged. “Just chillin.’’ 

Ella narrowed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head as if to dispel a thought. Then, her eyes widened dramatically and she gasped, throwing a glance over her shoulder to where Patience was standing. “Oh my god you guys, I have the best idea ever!”

“I already don’t like the sound of this,” Bonnibel replied, closing her book with a sigh. 

“Shut up and serve the community, Banner,” was Ella’s immediate retort, “This is an opportunity to help your new friend Phoebe.”

“What are you talking about, Ella?” asked Phoebe in a fatigued tone. 

“Okay, okay, shush, she can’t hear any of this or it’s not gonna work.” The blonde girl leaned in conspiratorially to the two girls, lowering her voice. “Bonnibel, now that you’re here we have the perfect opportunity that we have never had before. An opportunity to make St. Pim jealous.” 

“Uh, genuinely, I think that sounds like a terrible idea,” Phoebe interrupted, brows raised in concern. 

“I would have to agree,” added Bonnibel. 

“What are we whispering about?” Luckily, it was Lady’s voice cutting into the conversation this time, and not Patience. 

“Oh, good, you’re here.” Ella sounded relieved. “I’m sure you’ll agree with me. I was just telling these useless lesbians that now that Bonnibel’s here, we can use her to make Patience jealous and provide, like, a catalyst for their relationship.” 

“I’m impressed that you know the word ‘catalyst’ and used it correctly,” commented Bonnibel. 

“Whatever, bitch.”

“Actually,” said Lady after a moment of thought, “That sounds like a great idea. Kind of perfect, honestly.”

_“What?” _It was funny, really, how Phoebe and Bonnibel had the exact same response.__

____

____

“Okay, put your pitchforks down.” said Lady, hands raised in surrender, “But think about it this way: Patience has never had any competition for Phoebe’s attention. She doesn’t have to make a move because she knows you’re not going anywhere, Phoebe, and she can have as much fun as she wants messing with you and trying to push you into making the first move. Why not put the pressure on her, for once?”

“Okay, but then what do we do if Patience really is straight and doesn’t react at all? Or really believes I’m into Bonnibel?” 

“If Patience is straight, hell’s frozen over,” said Ella swiftly. “And if that really, somehow, is the case, first I’m going to knock her out for leading you on for five months, and then we can all go home in my car without her. And hey, at least you got to make out with the hot new girl right?”

“You want us to make out? In front of Patience? On this beach? Right now?” asked Phoebe in shock. 

“It would get the job done,” Lady pointed out diplomatically. “Bonnibel, what do you think? Willing to help the girl out?” 

Bonnibel shrugged. “I mean, as long as we can tell her the truth when it’s over. I just don’t want her to get the wrong idea and have a problem with me if she does have feelings for you, Phoebe.” 

“Which she doesn’t, so this is all a stupid waste of time anyways,” Phoebe argued. 

“Okay, well why don’t we give it a try anyway?” persisted Ella. 

Phoebe took a deep breath. Ella and Lady had a point. If Patience had any attraction to her at all, there was no doubt she would react to seeing something like that. Which meant that one way or another, an experiment like this would give her an answer. 

“Nah,” she said, finally. _Coward. You’re just scared of how you’ll feel if you don’t get the result you want. _“I just don’t want anything weird to happen when Finn’s birthday is in a few days and we’re all going to be at Cedar Point together all day.”__

____

____

“That’s assuming Patience comes with us, though,” was Ella’s argument. 

“She will,” Phoebe said almost instantly. 

“How do you know?”

Phoebe shrugged, looking at the sand. “She would’ve mentioned it to me if she wasn’t.” 

“Case in point, you’re basically her wife and you usually know her agenda.” Ella sounded like that had been exactly the response she expected. 

“We’re just good friends.”

“Yeah? We’re all ‘good friends,’ Coal, but Patience St. Pim can never get enough of you specifically. You think she spends a lot of alone time with the rest of us? Informs us of her plans?” 

“While I agree with Ella on that, you’d all better drop the subject, we got St. Pim approaching at two o’clock,” Lady interrupted quietly. Phoebe looked up, realizing it was true. Patience and Hunter were emerging from the water and were only about ten yards away now. Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief that she’d escaped the topic for a while as Patience plopped down beside her, placing a cool hand on her shoulder. Her anxiety was already subsiding. 

“Hey, nerds, you guys wanna hit the boardwalk for some lunch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Phoebe sure knows how to get in her own head, huh? Don't worry, she's just still growing up and figuring out how to like herself. 
> 
> Stay tuned :)


	3. Still Not Finn's Birthday Yet, Somehow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pacing is pretty slow rn, and it might pick up a little but probably not much. Currently I already have 16 chapters plotted, and the overall plot isn't even halfway done at that point, so this one might get pretty long. Also, Marceline's in this chapter, but she and Bonnie don't interact at all yet, jsyk. 
> 
> Also, if anyone wants the playlist I listen to for this story, lmk and I'll try to link it.

**June 13th**

_I’m not passive, but aggressive._

_Take note, it’s not impressive._

_Empty your sadness like you’re dumping your purse_

_On my bedroom floor_

_We put your curse in reverse._

Somehow, Bonnibel had truly not been expecting to hear from any of her new friends between the day at the lake and Finn’s birthday. She was expecting a few days to herself, and was planning on getting a lot of reading done and maybe messing around in the lab. Maybe she’d spend some time with Aunt Lolly, play a board game or watch a movie or some such family bonding activity. 

Phoebe Coal, however, needed someone to talk to. 

_Phoebe, 11:32am: hey girl, wyd today_

_Bonnibel: 11:39am: Just hanging out at home. What’s up?_

_Phoebe: 11:44am: wanna hang? bored af_

Laughing to herself, Bonnibel sent an affirmative response. About thirty minutes later, the redhead girl was coming down the stairs. “Hey, Banner. Sweet house, girl.” 

“Thanks. So how’s your day going?”

Phoebe shrugged, taking a seat across from Bonnibel on the couch. “I don’t know, my dad’s off today and he’s just annoying to be around all day, you know? I made him drop me off. And Patience is at work today, so . . .”

“Ah. So I was the best you could do today?” Her tone was teasing, but Phoebe’s face went red. 

“No! Not at all, oh my god, I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant, that like -”

“Phoebe, it’s alright, I was just messing with you.” 

The tension left the shorter girl’s shoulders. “Right. Well, anyways, not that this is the only reason I came to hang with you either, but, Lady told me that you said something the night you met us all about how you think Patience might be gay? And I was just wondering like, where you’re getting that from? Because I can never tell.” 

It made sense that Phoebe would want her opinion on this. The only other person who seemed actually certain that Patience wasn’t straight was Ella, and Bonnibel couldn’t blame Phoebe for not trusting her opinion on something like this.

But Bonnibel could only give a shrug of her own and say “It’s just her demeanor. I don’t know how else to explain it. I’m picking up the vibes.” 

“Ugh, you freaking hippie, talking about vibes and shit. You sound like Maja. That’s so unspecific,” grumbled the other girl. 

“Yeah, well, not all communication is verbal, dude. We’re all putting out vibes, right? Sometimes you can just tell.” Bonnibel tilted her head slightly. “But then again, I could be completely and entirely mistaken. You never know for sure until you ask. I certainly can’t tell you anything you don’t already know about this girl.” 

Phoebe sighed, leaning back against the arm of the couch in defeat. “I know.” 

“Are you looking for validation? Are you hoping I’ll give you a list of evidence proving the girl you have feelings for is gay?”

“I don’t know, I guess? Could you just get to the point already, Banner?” 

“I don’t really have one, but I do think searching for some external validation of your feelings is, like, a waste of time and a pointless endeavor. You’re never going to get a neon sign in your face telling you to go for it. You’re never going to get a safe bet, not from the sound of it. Why don’t you just tell her?”

“I don’t think she feels the same way.” 

“Is that because she actually treats you like just a friend, or because you don’t think you’re worthy of that attention?”

“Woah, dude. That’s pretty deep, don’t you think?”

“You’re the one who showed up at my house at noon to talk about your relationship problems.”

“You’re right. I like the honesty. So what’s your story?” 

“What do you mean?”

Phoebe’s amber eyes were glimmering. “There’s gotta be more to the story of you moving here. Who in their right mind leaves San Diego willingly? To come to _Ohio?”_

Bonnibel met her gaze. An easy lie. “There's no story, really, other than that me and my family thought the space would help my mental health.” 

“Were you like, majorly depressed or something?” 

“Eh. I would never put it like that. Just a bit of anxiety and moodiness, but the space from my parents helps too.” It wasn't too far from the truth. She _was_ enjoying the space from her parents. 

“Oh, so you figured you'd come kick it in the cornfields for a few years where your aunt would let you do whatever you want?” 

_Not exactly._ “Pretty much,” Bonnibel confirmed dryly. She knew she was being unnecessarily secretive, but talking about the reason she moved would mean _talking about the reason she moved_ , and it was hard enough to think about it by herself without someone else's pity washing over her. It was easier to just give vague statements about mental health and let Phoebe draw her own normal conclusions. Easier for everyone to just write this all off as the result of a troubled young mind. 

“Fair enough,” Phoebe said after a few moments, nodding. Bonnibel was just glad she'd accepted the answer. Then her gaze shifted to the television and console. “So, what kind of TV do you like to watch?” 

“Honestly, I don't really watch it. Sometimes I put on Netflix just for like, background, but I don't even remember the last time I paid attention to anything I was watching.” 

“I'm so disappointed in you, Bonnibel.” Phoebe’s voice was laced with feigned disapproval. “You have no idea how much you're missing out on. Have you even seen _Orange is the New Black?”_

Bonnibel shook her head.

“Ugh, what kind of lesbian _are_ you, dude? That's like a staple of the culture now, you have to watch it.” 

“Is it that good?”

“I mean, like, not really, but that's not the point. You just have to watch it.” 

A melodramatic sigh, courtesy of the taller girl. “Fine. Put it on then.” 

Phoebe did so presently, happy to provide her commentary as they watched. Bonnie didn't mind; Phoebe wasn't annoying about it, and it was interesting to hear her take on the opening scenes. It wasn’t a bad afternoon at all, hanging out with Phoebe. 

In an awkward turn of events, Aunt Lolly came downstairs to ask them what they’d like for dinner in the middle of a particularly graphic scene, causing both of the girls to turn red as Phoebe scrambled to pause the show. 

Aunt Lolly was laughing. “That’s pretty raunchy stuff, girls. Anyway, I was thinking about ordering some pizza tonight? That alright with you two?” 

Phoebe and Bonnibel nodded at the same time, but it was Bonnibel who spoke. “Yeah, that sounds great.” It seemed like Ohio had an endless supply of pizza chains, after all. 

Her aunt retreated upstairs just as Phoebe’s phone rang. While she answered it, Bonnibel checked the time. It was already after five. Where had the day gone? It seemed like they had only watched a few episodes. 

“Uh-huh, I’m at Bonnibel’s,” Phoebe was saying into the receiver. “Yeah . . . Okay, well -” A pause. “Okay. Let me ask.” She lowered the cell, not bothering to mute it. “Hey, Bonnie?”

“Yeah?”

“Patience just called, she and Jake are off work early, apparently Handel’s had a power outage. Do you care if they come hang here for a while? They’ll probably bring some tree.” 

_Tree? Is that a euphemi- Oh. Makes sense._ “Sure, but we’re not smoking down here. The windows don’t open very far down here and I don’t want my room to smell like weed all week.” 

“Such a square,” teased Phoebe, but she was already lifting the phone again. “Yeah, Patience, that’s cool . . .Nah, Lolly’s getting pizza, don’t worry about it . . . Oh, well if it’s all gonna melt, then hell yeah. You got any cake batter left? . . . Let me ask.” Phoebe didn’t bother to move the phone this time. “Bonnie, the ice cream’s gonna melt so the manager’s letting them take whatever. You want some ice cream?”

“Uh, sure.”

“What flavor?”

“I don’t know? I’ve never been to Handel’s.”

“And that is absolutely a tragedy that we will correct as soon as possible, but we can’t go down there right now to look anyways, so just go with your favorite and assume they have it.”

“Bubblegum?” Bonnibel was uncertain if they would carry it. 

“Sure thing, girl,” Phoebe said, before repeating the request into the phone. She spoke with Patience for a few more moments before hanging up. 

“I didn’t realize Jake and Patience worked together,” Bonnibel remarked casually. 

“Yeah, the ice cream shop’s like ten minutes away, in the more suburban part of town. It gets pretty busy, actually, because this is the best ice cream in the world. Anyways, they got the job around the same time, and I think that’s how they actually became friends, although we’ve all kind of been in the same circle our entire life. They’re a little closer, though.” 

“Huh. I wouldn’t have thought so.” 

“Yeah, Patience doesn’t really act friendly. They’re cool, though. I think he’s the only person she really likes in the group.” 

“Other than you, you mean?” 

It was so easy to make Phoebe blush. She was far too embarrassed of herself. “I wouldn’t say that Patience _likes_ me. I would just say she finds me easy to spend time with.”

“You’re impossible,” was Bonnibel’s light response. “She’s on her way here right now to see _you._ She wouldn’t be en route to my house if you weren’t here.” It fell on deaf ears, unfortunately. In her opinion, Phoebe was being intentionally dense. She had been in Ohio for less than two weeks, and it was already apparent to her that whatever was going on between the two girls was mutual. So why was it so difficult for Phoebe to see that? Bonnibel could understand why the others teased her so often. This was getting a little ridiculous. 

. . . 

Marceline Abadeer was having a terrible morning. Summer had just started a few weeks ago, and she was already counting down the days until it ended. Her dad was being a wad (as usual), Keila was blowing her off for Guy, and Maja had a rule about not calling her before noon. Something about interrupting her ‘morning rituals’ or something dumb like that. 

She’d been messing around with her bass, working on a few new ideas, until her dad had come into the room with a flippant “Could you stop with that noise already, Marceline? Some of us have work to get done.” It wasn’t that she had any desire to obey him, but she was too annoyed to focus on her music after that anyways. Why did she have to keep it down? Why couldn’t he just put in earbuds, or go to his _actual office in the city?_ Sure, it was a thirty minute drive, and he could complete pretty much all of his legal work at home, but why? It would make things easier on both of them if he would leave the house more often. 

But no. He had to be at home, ruining her day like usual. Just like almost every day for the prior three weeks. He said he wanted to spend more time with her, but she was pretty sure he really just wanted to keep a closer eye on her. 

Her phone buzzed. 

_Ash, 10:09 am: Hey babe, wanna hang out today?_

Well. There wasn’t much else to do. And Ash was sweet. They’d been talking for a few months now, and Marceline was pretty sure he was going to make it official soon. And best of all, her dad hated him, threatened to chase the boy away with a broom whenever he came to pick Marceline up. It was a win-win. 

_So why does he make you so uncomfortable?_ She couldn’t answer that. Something about her always felt a little uneasy around the boy, and not in a cute butterflies-in-the-stomach way. But that was probably just her own anxiety or something. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. Besides, she liked a little danger. She was certainly no stranger to it. 

Recklessness is simply the natural result of not caring about your own wellbeing. 

Her phone buzzed again. Ash had sent a few question marks. Apparently she’d been taking too long to reply, so she sent an affirmative and threw some clean clothes on. 

Ash was at the door sooner than she’d been expecting, and she took off, ignoring her father’s beratement of them both as she got in Ash’s beat-up old Dodge. Ash flashed her a toothy grin and a “How’s it going?” as he started the engine, revving it a bit just for effect as he whipped out of her driveway. 

She muttered “Shitty,” but Ash just laughed and said nothing. She wondered if he thought she was joking, or just really didn’t care how she was feeling. . 

They got lunch together and he took her to the local movie theater, but he spent almost the entire time trying to feel her up. She told herself he wasn’t that bad; he was seventeen and a lot of guys were worse. She was lucky he was even interested in her (as he would often remind her). Something in her railed against that, but the part of her that was desperately attempting to fill a void would always speak over it. 

Before he dropped her off, he finally did it. _“Wanna be my girlfriend?”_

“Yeah, that’s cool,” she replied nonchalantly. She felt sick, but she told herself it was normal. This was how everyone felt at the start of a new relationship, right? 

She went inside, closing the door gently behind her as Ash (her boyfriend, now) peeled out of the driveway. 

Unfortunately, her father was waiting for her at the table. The deep bags under his eyes were illuminated under the fluorescent lights in their kitchen (a horrible idea, truly). He made eye contact with her, neither speaking for a moment. 

“What’s up, Dad? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She was trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t work. 

“Marceline, you should sit down. I have to share some difficult news with you.” 

She sat down, feeling her heart drop into her stomach. That was never a good thing. _The last time he said something like that . . ._ Well. At least this couldn’t be any worse. 

“What is it?”

“Your uncle Simon has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia.” 

The shock knocked the wind out of her. Sure, Simon was getting older, but still, she’d never expected anything like this. Not this early. 

“Does Marshall know?” 

Her father nodded grimly. “I called him while you were out.” 

“You told Marshall _first?_ Are you kidding me? He hasn’t even visited Uncle Simon in years!”

“I didn’t want to ruin your afternoon prematurely. Besides, this isn’t the time to be childish, Marceline. Your brother cares just as much about Simon as you do.”

_“Bull,”_ she muttered, but her father ignored it, continuing his lecture about ‘maturity’ and ‘coming together as a family during this difficult time’. Marceline wasn’t hearing it, though. All she could think about was Simon slowly forgetting her. All she could think about was the time she was losing with him, even now. 

“So are we visiting him tomorrow, then?” she blurted out, interrupting whatever he was saying. 

“Well, he’s moving out of the old house and into a specialized apartment facility over the next few days, it probably wouldn’t be the best time, but I can take you to visit next Sunday, certainly.” 

That wouldn’t be soon enough for her mind, which was already exaggerating the symptoms her uncle might be having. She knew he was probably fine if it was still this early, but she’d feel better once she made sure. “I’ll just go over and help him tomorrow, then.”

Her father chuckled. “He hired movers, Marceline, I doubt there’ll be much for you to help with.”

She shrugged, rolling her eyes. Her dad didn’t understand anything. “Whatever, I’m still going.” 

Her father simply shrugged as she stomped out of the kitchen. She went to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her, sinking to the floor. She was crying now, unsure if it was from sadness, frustration, or both. She reached for her phone, immediately calling Keila, but it went to voicemail. Of course. Why would Keila bother being available for her best friend? Ever since she’d started talking to that Guy dude, she never had time for Marceline. It came as no surprise when Keila texted her twenty minutes later in lieu of calling back. 

_Keila 7:34pm: Sorry Marce, I’m with Guy. U okay?_

Marceline couldn’t bring herself to respond, too hurt and annoyed about being put on the backburner for some guy to begin with. So who could she talk to, then? Not Keila, clearly. Ash didn’t seem like a good idea, she had a feeling he would only make her feel worse. Maybe Maja, but Maja would probably just try to meditate with her or something. Patience? Sure, she wasn’t as close with the older girl as she was with Maja or Keila, but they were friends. Technically. And Patience probably wouldn’t pity her, would just tell her to smoke probably. Well, that beats crying in your room by yourself, at least. 

_Marceline 7:50pm: yo wyd_

_Patience 8:09pm: I just dropped Phoebe off at home. Why?_

_Marceline: 8:11pm: my life is falling apart, my dad’s a bitch, keila’s ignoring me. wanna smoke?_

_Patience 8:15pm: You know I do. I’ll be there in fifteen._

_Marceline 8:19pm: natch._

True to her word, Patience St. Pim’s neat black car was in her driveway at 8:30. On her way out, her father gave her an incredulous “You’re going back out?” but she just ignored it. 

Patience grinned at her beneath her round sunglasses as Marceline got in the passenger seat. “What’s up, Marcy?”

Marceline shrugged. “I don’t know. Ash asked me to be his girlfriend today and I said yes but like, something about it just doesn’t feel right? And I don’t know what to do about that. And my dad’s being an asshole like usual.” She chose not to mention Simon; Patience wasn’t really the comforting type, and a cold reaction would probably just make Marceline more upset. 

“Hm. Sorry about your dad. For one thing, if you feel weird about Ash you shouldn’t be dating him.”

“But what if I’m just being paranoid? He’s . . . sweet.”

“That just does not sound true, Marce. Also, I’ve known him since the dawn of time, and he’s absolutely not.”

“Well, it’s too late now. I already said yes.”

It was then that Patience did a very rare thing. She lowered her sunglasses, turning to look Marceline directly in the eyes. Patience had frosty blue eyes, and the intensity was almost enough to give Marceline chills. Almost. “Don’t be a dumbass. And _don’t_ waste your time on that waste of space.” 

Deep down, Marceline knew she was right. She just wasn’t ready to listen yet. 

“He’s not that bad.” 

Patience raised her glasses again, refocusing on the road and shrugging. “Whatever, girl. Let’s go smoke.”

No, Patience was not the comforting type in the least. But still a pretty good friend, all in all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Cupcakes and Coasters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! There's not much in this chapter, but some actual plots are going to start picking up in the next chapter. This is just about Finn's birthday but it includes some interaction btw Marcy and Bonnie.

**June 15th**

**__** _Leave my secrets alone,_

_They aren’t for you to know_

_I hear the knock at my door_

_As they make me vacate my bones_

_\- cursed/jacob lee_

Bonnibel woke up bright and early on the day of Finn’s birthday, just as she’d been ordered by Jake. Her alarm went off at 5:15am, giving her exactly two hours to get ready for the day. Jake had mentioned they probably wouldn’t be home until ten or eleven that night, so she knew she would need to bring everything but the kitchen sink in her bag. Okay, well, she probably didn’t actually _need_ to, but it made her feel better to know she was supplied with sunscreen, bug spray, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, oil sheets, chapstick, and pretty much everything else on the bathroom counter. So what? She liked to be prepared. 

Once she had her backpack packed, she took a quick shower, putting her hair up into a ponytail and choosing a pair of jean shorts and a tee. She’d never been one for amusement parks, but it was Finn’s birthday, after all. Plus, the way the group spoke about Cedar Point made it sound like it was the holy land of Ohio or something. Might as well give it a chance. 

Aunt Lolly was awake by the time Bonnibel went upstairs, working on her laptop as she sipped distractedly from a white mug. “Morning, kiddo!” 

“Good morning,” she replied with a smile, “I’m just waiting for Finn and Jake.” 

“Oh, right! It’s Finn’s birthday, right? Cedar Point?”

Bonnie nodded, relieved that her aunt had remembered. Her parents were prone to forgetting details like this when Bonnie was going somewhere, which resulted in her always having to re-explain where she was going, what she was doing, and who she would be with. 

Her aunt slipped her some cash for the day and sent her off at the sound of Jake beeping the horn. True to their word, the boys were in their parents’ minivan, both waving brightly at her as she approached it. It was no surprise that nobody else was in the car yet, considering Bonnibel lived the closest out of all their friends, being right across the street. 

“Happy birthday, Finn!” was the first thing she said as she climbed into the second row of seats with a smile, handing him a card. 

“Thanks Bonnie! You didn’t have to get me anything though!”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s your birthday, dude. Plus it’s just a card.”

He shrugged, a good-natured smile on his face. “You still didn’t have to, but thanks.”

That was when Jake cut in. “Oh, and by the way, B-bell, I don’t know if you remember our friend Marceline from the party at Ella’s, but she’s coming with us.” 

“Okay, but doesn’t this van only have eight seats?” The issue seemed like an obvious one to Bonnibel; she wasn’t sure how Finn and Jake hadn’t thought of it. 

“Nah, don’t worry, we’ve already thought about it, and we’re just gonna make Phoebe sit on Patience’s lap.”

Bonnibel couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you think she’ll actually do it?”

Jake shrugged, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror. “I don’t know, honestly, she can be a major wuss about Patience, but you girls are gonna have to get pretty cozy back there if she won’t. I don’t know if you can fit four people in the third row.”

“Well, I’m staying right here in the second row, so that is absolutely not going to be my problem.”

The boys laughed. “Eh, she probably will. Like, Phoebe can’t screw herself over _that_ badly. We’re basically giving her a golden opportunity,” Finn pointed out. 

“I guess we’ll find out,” Jake said simply as they pulled onto Lady’s street, which was only a minute or two away from theirs. The blonde got into the car with a smile, giving Finn a small gift and a greeting before giving Jake a simple kiss on the cheek. She sat next to Bonnie, leaving just one more seat in the second row.

“So, Bonnie,” began the blonde, “Ever been on a roller coaster before?” 

Bonnibel grimaced. “Not in a long time, they make me a little queasy.” 

“Oh, well that’s all gonna change today. You’re getting on roller coasters until you’re a converted daredevil,” commented Lady mischievously. 

“I’ll get on a few of them,” Bonnie offered in compromise. She would give them the benefit of the doubt, since it was Finn’s birthday and all, but she was expecting them to be as nauseating as usual. 

Lady simply narrowed her eyes. “We’ll see,” came the airy reply.

Apparently, Patience and Marceline were the next stop. It seemed that Marceline had already spent the night at Patience’s house. Interesting. Bonnibel hadn’t realized the two were close. Patience got in first, leaving Marceline the seat next to Lady, which she took, giving everyone in the car a neutral “Hey, guys,” and handing Finn a birthday card.

Meanwhile, Jake was already filling Patience in on his little scheme from the front of the car. “So, since Marcy is here - which is, by the way, not a bad thing or an inconvenience in the least, Marcy, so don’t give me that angsty look - we realized we were gonna run out of seats. So, the obvious and only possible solution to this issue is to have someone double-up on a seat. Naturally, that would usually be me and Lady, but she can’t exactly sit on my lap when I’m driving.”

“I feel like I might know where this is going,” said Patience with a funny sort of smile. It was hard for Bonnibel to interpret the expression without being able to see her eyes, though. 

“Yeah, I bet you do,” Jake returned with a laugh. “Well, so anyways, the point is that Phoebe’s gonna have to sit on your lap during the drive.”

“Okay. Have you told Phoebe?”

“Confession, no we have not,” Jake said as he shook his head. 

“I’m sure she won’t mind. It’s not like there are a lot of other options that make any sense in this car.”

“Yeah, I told Finn we could ask Hunter to double-up with him but he just got all red and said she probably wouldn’t be willing to anyway.”

_“Hey!”_ Finn was indignant at being exposed by his brother in front of the rest of their friends. 

“Besides,” Patience said, ignoring the outburst, “Phoebe and I cuddle all the time, it’s not like it’s anything new.” 

Next to Bonnibel, Lady’s jaw dropped. In the front seat, Finn and Jake were looking at each other with equal expressions of surprise and glee. 

“Wait just a minute,” said Jake, “You mean to tell me you and Phoebe _cuddle? All the time?_ What do you _mean?_ Since _when?”_

Patience simply shrugged, frowning. “It wasn’t exactly a secret, Jake. You probably just haven’t personally seen it happen.”

“You’re damn right I haven’t seen it happen, because I think I would remember if I had,” he retorted. 

“Yeah, come on Patience, you don’t think someone would’ve noticed that?” added Lady. 

“Why would you? Friends cuddle all the time, it’s not exactly a landmark event,” Patience sounded positively puzzled. It was a good act, but Bonnibel was trained in lying about personal matters and trying to minimize things that might expose said lies. It sounded like Patience was trying to sweep this little fact under the rug now that she realized the reaction it was garnering. Bonnie chose not to call her out; if the rest of the car’s occupants couldn’t see through the obvious cover-up, far be it from her to point it out to them. 

“Uh-huh. Sure,” Jake’s airy response didn’t sound like he was at all convinced by Patience’s nonchalance either. 

They picked up Ella and Hunter next, before making their way to Phoebe’s house, the final stop before they could hit the road. Bonnibel herself had already been in the car for 45 minutes at this point, and she already knew this would be a long day.

Bonnibel was already so accustomed to Phoebe’s generally embarrassing behavior around Patience that she hardly noticed the girl’s red-faced reluctance after hearing about the seating arrangements for the trip. 

“Unless you want Marceline to sit with me instead,” Patience offered diplomatically, to which Marceline offered a grin while rolling her eyes, as if to say she knew Patience’s offer was all for show (which it was). Bonnibel herself felt like there was something rather alluring about Marceline, with her heavy eyeliner, ripped jean shorts, and black high-top shoes. She hadn’t spoken much so far; seeming to prefer observing to participating. 

For some reason, Bonnibel was finding it hard to look away, although she desperately wanted to avoid being caught staring at the girl. If any of her friends noticed, she would never hear the end of it. If Marceline herself noticed, who knew how she’d react? Bonnibel didn’t know her, and didn’t know if she was the type to get aggressive or not. So she tried to keep her eyes to herself, distracting herself by talking to Lady in a hushed voice under the more boisterous conversations taking place between their other friends.

“You think Phoebe and Patience might finally get together today?” Lady asked her quietly. No one else heard her over the sound of Ella and Jake arguing loudly across the cabin over which particular roller coaster was the most thrilling.

Bonnibel threw an inconspicuous glance over her shoulder at the pair in the back. Patience and Phoebe were on the end, Phoebe having relaxed into the older girl, and Patience had one slender hand resting on her waist, as if to keep her steady. Both of the girls seemed intently focused on whatever nonsense Ella was saying to support her claim, and neither noticed Bonnibel’s glance. It was kind of sweet, really, the way they fit so well together. 

“I don’t know, honestly, but they’re going to be a very cute couple whenever they finally get around to it,” was her final verdict. Lady nodded.

About an hour into the drive, Jake took an exit and pulled into a small rest stop. “Okay, everybody out! You have thirty minutes, use the bathroom, get some snacks, and meet back at the van!” The older boy herded everyone out of the van, waving them off in the direction of the rest stop. 

“And where are _you_ going, Jake?” Finn asked with a suspicious smile. 

“Mind your own business, that’s where,” was his brother’s only reply as he got back into the driver’s seat. 

“Real clever.” 

“Whatever, birthday boy. Just make sure you’re back in this spot in thirty minutes or less.”

“Can do.” 

With a mock salute, the younger boy turned, and Bonnibel followed the group into the rest stop. Lady dragged Bonnie to the Starbucks with her immediately and without ceremony. 

“I need caffeine, girl,” she said as they got in the short line. 

“Well why didn’t you make coffee at home then?” Bonnibel said, lightly teasing her friend. 

“I wanted it to taste good,” was Lady’s simple response. 

“So where’s Jake going? Should I be worried about us all getting stranded here?”

Lady laughed. “No, he’s going to a bakery nearby for Finn’s birthday cupcakes. He’s been calling them Finncakes, because he found a place that will draw little cartoon Finns on all of the cupcakes. Finn has no idea yet about that part specifically.”

“So Finn was right.”

“Obviously. Jake would never let him down on his birthday.”

“How sweet,” Bonnibel murmured, thinking of her own brother and what _his_ next birthday might look like. It would likely be cold and depressing, and there was nothing she could do to change that, since she wouldn’t even be there with him. 

Lady stepped forward to place her order, bringing Bonnibel back to the present. After she had her drink, they sat down at a table to wait. They still had about twenty minutes until Jake had said he’d be back. Slowly, their friends began to accumulate around them, joining in an irrelevant conversation as they waited for him.

He returned promptly on schedule, flashing the group a toothy grin as they all piled back into their seats. Within seconds they were back on the highway, speeding towards the horizon at what was surely at least thirty miles an hour over the speed limit (although Bonnibel couldn’t be certain, since she couldn’t see the speedometer from her position). 

When they finally arrived at the amusement park about an hour later, it was already crawling with visitors. They’d made pretty good time, it was just before 10am and the park would be opening in a few minutes.

“The line looks pretty long,” Bonnibel noted quietly as she followed Lady and Marceline out of the car. 

“Yeah, but it’s not bad actually,” Lady replied. “Sometimes we don’t make it here as early and that line will double in size.”

“Birthday coasters! Birthday coasters! Birthday coasters! WOOHOO!” Finn screamed as he began tearing off for the line. 

“WOOHOO!” Jake echoed immediately, running after his brother and doing an air punch in celebration. 

“They’re kind of dumb, huh?” said Bonnibel. Lady laughed. 

“Yeah.”

“Kinda grows on a person, though,” Bonnie continued.

“It absolutely does,” Lady agreed sagely. 

They followed the boys, the rest of their friends ambling behind them as they joined the growing line and eventually made their way inside. 

Immediately after entry, Lady grabbed Bonnie’s hand and dragged her to the first roller coaster she saw that looked big and menacing. “This is a good place to start.”

“It looks like a good place to die, actually,” was her deadpan response to the blonde. 

“Don’t be so dramatic. This one is lots of fun, and they’re all perfectly safe.”

“Perfectly safe doesn’t mean enjoyable.”

“In this case it does, so stop whining. You’re my buddy, and this is going to be a long ass day if you don’t have some fun.”

“Your buddy?”

“Yeah. We all have a buddy. There’s fucking eight of us here, we’re not going to all be together all day long. In fact, everyone else has already scattered. So we usually do the buddy system at times like this. I thought the boys mentioned it to you.”

“No, they didn’t, but it makes a lot of sense. So who’s buddied up then?”

“Finn and Jake, since it’s Finn’s birthday Jake wanted to spend all day with him, which is how you got me! And then Patience and Phoebe, obviously, so Ella and Hunter are also buddies today.”

“So who is Marceline with, then?”

Lady’s brown skin went pale as her mouth fell open. “That had not occurred to me, and suddenly I’m not sure. I hope she didn’t wander off. She might be with the boys or with Patience and Phoebe. I’ll check.” She pulled out her phone, shooting a few texts before locking it and shrugging. 

“Let’s hope they check their phones.”

A few minutes later, after the line had moved up significantly, Lady finally got a response. “Uh, so, she _was_ with the boys, and then she went to buy a slushee and the boys got distracted and got on a ride, and now they have lost her.”

“Oh. Nice. So nobody knows where she is?”

“No, I guess she hasn’t answered their texts yet, but it’s only been a few minutes. I’m sure she’ll check her phone if she’s lost.”

Five more minutes went by and it was finally their turn to get on the ride, Lady clapping excitedly as she followed Bonnie into the metal seat. A scrawny guy with a neon vest on strapped all the passengers in, and then it was time. Bonnibel tried to steel herself; she had never been much of a thrill-seeker, and didn’t see the appeal of the ‘rush’. 

But then again, there _was_ something kind of fun about the buzz she got as the ride took off. Maybe Lady had a point. 

When it was over, Lady clapped her on the back as they got off. “Good job, Banner! How do you feel?”

“A little queasy, but it was kind of fun.”

Her friend grinned at her. “Exactly.” Then, the Korean girl pulled her phone out and frowned. “They still haven’t found Marceline.” 

“Do you wanna try looking around a bit?” Bonnibel could tell Lady was becoming concerned about the goth girl. 

“Yeah, sure. We probably won’t find her on our own, but let’s try before we make a thing out of this. She might’ve just wanted to go on a coaster by herself or something.”

The two of them wandered around for a few minutes, but it was no use; the park was crowded and they hadn’t been able to spot anyone who even looked like Marceline. 

“Maybe you should try calling her?” Bonnibel suggested. 

“Try calling who?” came an unexpected voice from behind the girls, causing them both to whip around immediately. Behind them was Marceline. Of course. 

“Oh, Marceline, there you are!” said Lady, “The boys told me they lost you and we were starting to get worried.”

“Oh, right, buddy system. Sorry, Lady, I forgot, I was just doing some walking around.”

“Well, from now on you’re with us. I don’t want you out of my sight, Abadeer.”

Marceline gave the blonde girl a mock salute and a smile. “Sure thing. So what are we doing now?”

“Finding another roller coaster, since we just spent fifteen minutes looking for your dumbass,” Lady retorted. It was probably the most sass Bonnibel had heard from Lady yet, and implied more amiability between the two than Bonnie had realized.

Well, she certainly didn’t have any problems with Marceline sticking with them all day. It gave her an excuse to look at the girl, at least. And man, was there a lot to look at. She was inarguably beautiful, and Bonnibel found the attraction only grew as the day went on. Marceline still seemed a little reserved, preferring to listen more than talk, but when she did choose to interject it was usually with some quiet but funny remark about whatever Bonnie and Lady were talking about. 

A few hours later, having crossed paths with their other friends multiple times, the group met up to have lunch together, all crowding together at a table near some food stands. Finn and Jake were there first, and Jake was pulling various items out of the mid-sized cooler he’d brought with them, including some fruit and chips Margaret had sent for the kids, and then finally, with great fanfare, he brought out the box of cupcakes - or Finncakes, as he was calling them. 

“What? Is that _me?_ Bro, you got them to _draw me? On cupcakes?”_

“Hell yeah dude, happy birthday!” was Jake’s response with a laugh as he carefully began setting up candles, putting sixteen individual candles in the cupcakes. 

After they’d sang happy birthday to Finn, the group began splitting up again. Somehow, Ella had convinced Lady that she’d found the fastest roller coaster in the park and they _had_ to try it, so Lady told Bonnibel and Marceline to wait at the table so they didn’t get separated again. 

“So, Bonnibel,” began the goth girl, wasting no time as their friends skipped off into the crowds. “Having fun?”

There was something about Marceline’s tone that set her on edge, but she wasn’t quite sure why. 

“Yeah. Roller coasters aren’t really my thing, but they’re not bad. And Lady’s been having a lot of fun.:

“Oh yeah, that girl’s wild on the downlow. She’s game for anything that even feels dangerous.”

“Huh. I wouldn’t have expected that.”

“Pretty sneaky, right?” 

Bonnibel just nodded, her brain trying and failing to come up with a way to keep the conversation going. It was hard to think of things to say that didn’t sound stupid when you were sitting right across from someone so attractive. Luckily, Marceline didn’t leave her in this turmoil for too long. It seemed like she was feeling talkative. 

“So, what made you move here?”

“Oh, just mental health stuff.” 

Marceline’s eyes narrowed at that. “You got a shitty home life back in Cali or something?”

“No, not at all, my parents are wonderful. I just needed a fresh start, you know?”

“I don’t believe you,” was the flat, immediate response. 

“Excuse me?” Bonnibel nearly choked on her water. This was the first time anyone had directly called her on the bullshit lie she’d made up about her move. She didn’t exactly appreciate being seen through by a near stranger. 

“I don’t believe you in the slightest, Banner. I don’t think you moved here because of ‘mental health’, and I don’t think you want anyone to know what it really is, maybe because it’s too revealing or too embarrassing or too sad or something.” 

“I - I mean - I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Despite her needling, there was a glimmer in Marceline’s eye. “And one day I’ll find out, so for now it doesn’t matter.” The slim girl shrugged, and then smiled. “I have secrets too, for what it’s worth. We all do.”

“Yeah? Like what? Not that I’m admitting I have any secrets, because I don’t.”

“I’ll tell you what. When you’re ready to tell me one of yours, I’ll tell you one of mine.”

Bonnibel was feeling warm; it was like they were in on a private little game that Marceline was setting up between the two of them. Something about talking to Marceline alone gave Bonnibel the feeling that they were now co-conspirators; talking to Marceline made her feel special in a subtle way. 

_Jesus Christ, Bonnibel, it’s only been five minutes, could you cool your jets a little?_ She chastised herself, but it was hard to ignore the appeal of the other girl. 

Well. Maybe she was bi or something. That would be cool, right? 

Unfortunately, Marceline’s phone began ringing. The goth girl’s eyes flickered down at the name on the screen before narrowing in annoyance as she answered it. “Hey babe . . . Yes, we’re still here, it’s literally only 2pm why would you even ask me that . . . Probably not until late . . . I mean, maybe tomorrow? I don’t know, Ash, I told you I was going to Cedar Point today . . . whatever, bye.” She rolled her eyes as she put her phone away. “Sorry, that was my boyfriend. He’s so annoying.”

“Then why are you dating him?”

Marceline shrugged, looking away, the confidence she’d been exuding before suddenly seeming to melt off as her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. I like him a lot, I guess.”

“You guess?” Bonnibel’s eyebrows were raised. She was trying to ignore the disappointment bubbling up in her stomach at the word ‘boyfriend’ coming out of Marceline’s mouth. Whoever this guy was, he seemed like a douche already. _You’re a little biased, you dumb lesbian,_ she reminded herself, but this guy still sounded like an asshole. 

Before Marceline could formulate a response, Lady, Ella, and Hunter had returned from what they all agreed was the best roller coaster at the park this summer. Hunter and Ella took off for another ride as Lady led them to her next choice, a contraption that wasn’t too big and Bonnibel didn’t have a problem getting on it after the death-traps Lady had been forcing her to ride all day. This time, Lady got on last, meaning Marceline and Bonnie ended up squished together in the same row as she was put behind them with a stranger. Just before the ride began, Marceline nonchalantly found her hand and squeezed it, shooting her a smile that was probably supposed to just be friendly and reassuring, but it made Bonnie’s stomach do somersaults. 

. . . 

The sun was daringly low by the time the group piled back into the minivan, and they were all pleasantly worn out and swapping stories about the day. In the back seat, Patience was rolling blunts for the ride, and Bonnibel rested her head against the window as they made their way back to the freeway. 

“Who’s ready for WAFFLE HOUSE?” Finn hollered from the front, which was met by loud cheers from the rest of the car. 

“Well, curb your enthusiasm, because we still have forty minutes ‘til we get there,” Jake followed, which was met with loud boos, mostly from Ella. 

“You’re the worst chauffeur _ever!”_ Ella yelled from the back. 

“You be quiet or I swear I’ll turn this car around!” was his vehement response as he shook his finger with faux-authority. 

“You would never do that, you’re too excited about this fucking Waffle House, Martins,” came her sassy retort. 

Bonnibel chuckled to herself. She had to admit, she really liked her new friends. They were, surprisingly, cooler than most of the people she knew in San Diego. There was a theory behind that formulating in the back of her mind, like maybe kids in Ohio were cooler because they had to try harder in a place so boring, but it needed much more evidence. She filed it away for further consideration at another time as Patience announced brightly that she was finished rolling, passing a blunt to each row. “I decided we could all just smoke with our own row, because passing blunts between like nine people in one minivan sounds like a nightmare.”

When they did finally get to Waffle House, they were all hungry and a little bit fried. The group sat down as a tired middle-aged waitress with deep-set smile lines took their order, introducing herself and setting down a pot of coffee for the table at Patience’s request. 

Ella’s phone chimed loudly, and when she looked at it she squealed with excitement, causing the few other patrons in the diner to shoot irritated glances at the table. “You _guys,_ the rents are going to D.C. this weekend, you know what that means!”

“Woo! Party at Ella’s!” Finn responded with delight. 

“Hell yeah!” 

The food came surprisingly fast, and they all discussed details for the party that weekend as they ate. It was agreed this party would be smaller than the last one, just those present and maybe a few others this time, so they could play party games and smoke without all the “locals” as Ella called them, 

“You realize all of you are locals,” Bonnie felt compelled to point out to the slightly snobby girl. 

“Yeah, but there’s locals and then there’s _locals,”_ she responded, explaining it to Bonnibel as if this were a simple concept she was explaining to a child. “And we are _not_ the second kind, I can tell you that.”

About an hour later, they were ready to head home, which was still a little quite a distance away. The way they got back in the car left Marceline in the middle between Bonnie and Lady, but Bonnibel was too tired by that point to feel much about that one way or another, so she leaned her head against the window again, closing her eyes as the car took off. 

“Psst,” said Marceline after a few minutes, causing Bonnie to crack open her eyes. 

“What?” 

Marceline’s eyes quickly darted to the side and then back to her. “You look really uncomfortable. Why don’t you just borrow this?” she patted her shoulder, giving Bonnie a friendly smile. 

“Oh, thanks, but I’ll be fine,” she said quickly. Physical contact with Marceline genuinely seemed like a bad idea, considering the fact that she had a boyfriend. r

“No you won’t. Just accept the gesture, dude. It’s not like I’m giving you a kidney or anything.” 

Well, she couldn’t argue with that logic. Even if she could, she knew she really didn’t want to, so she just shrugged and gave in, gingerly leaning against the goth girl. 

She wasn’t sure exactly when she fell asleep, but she knew she was woken up by a gentle nudge. “Psst, wake up Banner, I need my shoulder back now,” came a quiet voice. Bonnibel binked her eyes open tiredly. She processed the request, lifting up her head to allow Marceline out of the vehicle. Lady got back in after she was out, sitting next to Bonnibel again as they pulled away from the goth’s house. A glance to the third row revealed that Ella, Hunter, Patience, and Phoebe had already been dropped off, meaning Lady’s stop was probably next, and then they’d be dropping Bonnie off. A good enough reason to keep her eyes open, then. 

“So, did you have a good time today, Bonnie?” asked Finn from the front. 

“Yeah, but who cares? It’s _your_ birthday, dude,” she replied, shooting the blond boy a finger gun. 

“He means with Marceline,” Jake explained, “Seems like you two were getting a little cozy there.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responded nonchalantly. He narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. 

When she finally made it back home, Lolly was at the kitchen table working on something on her computer as usual, having some cut fruit, black plastic glasses perched on her nose. “Hi, honey, did you have fun at Cedar Point?” her aunt asked. 

“Yes, actually, it was kind of cool. Plus Finn had a good birthday, which is what really mattered today.”

“Hah! That kid could have fun in the apocalypse, Bonnie. He’s an optimistic person.”

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Lolly already knew all her friends far better than she did, and had known most of them all their lives. It was just as weird as the fact that all her new friends knew her aunt far better than she did. She tried to avoid thinking about these things, so she simply shook her head and made her way downstairs to get ready for bed.

When she fell asleep that night, there was just one person on her mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how I said the plot starts picking up in the next chapter? Well, just as a little hint, the next chapter is titled "Nothing Good Ever Happens After 2am." If you're familiar with How I Met Your Mother, you might know where this is going, but even if you're not, that title should be pretty self-explanatory. Anyway, thanks for reading! See ya in a week or two.


	5. NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS AFTER 2AM, VOLUME ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So, this chapter is named after an episode of HIMYM, and it contains a few other pop culture refs too (one of them is that 70s show, by the way! so, bonus points if anyone spots any of those extra refs! (Edit: Looking back, these author's notes are getting pretty long, and if you want a version of the story where you don't have to read these things, this story is cross-posted on FFnet with ZERO author's notes or commentary of my own!
> 
> Also, this chapter title is pretty dramatic for a reason, but this chapter specifically does not contain as much drama as you might be expecting, just so you're not disappointed! As the title implies, there will be another chapter called Nothing Good Ever Happens After 2am, but that is not the next chapter, the second volume will be many chapters later (because the 2am rule comes up again in a few months). This chapter does contain a lot of important stuff tho, and helps me establish the whole 2am rule so that it can come up again in a profound way later in the story! 
> 
> Hold all your assumptions til the end and just bear with me, because this is the longest chap so far.

**NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS AFTER 2AM ( _VOLUME ONE OF TWO)_**

**__** _“Kids, when it’s after 2am just go to sleep, because the decisions you make after 2am are the wrong decisions.” - Ted Mosby, How I Met Your Mother._

**June 20**

Patience St. Pim woke up bright and early every morning. It wasn’t always a decision, but she had never been one to sleep in or linger after waking up. Not to mention, it was nice to have enough time in the morning without ever having to rush out of the house. She had a routine, not necessarily because she liked it that way but mostly because: why mess with perfection? If you already had something (like a morning routine) down to a science, why fuck with it? 

The routine for summer weekends, of course, usually looked something like this: Patience would wake up, brush her teeth and shower, get dressed and ready for the day, and then maybe have some breakfast or a smoothie. She would take a walk if the weather wasn’t contradictory, and maybe do some journaling or cleaning when she came home. If she wasn’t working that day, she would devise social plans (usually with Phoebe, although her other friends made their regular appearances). 

Phoebe Coal. Another issue entirely, and not an issue at all. The girl’s feelings were obvious. Patience couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t just speak up about it. 

To Patience, it was very simple. If Phoebe were serious about her feelings and sure of what she wanted, she would tell Patience. Until then, she had to infer that Phoebe was uncertain about what she wanted or how she felt, or she was too insecure to handle the possibility of rejection, and Patience simply wasn’t willing to enter any sort of relationship with someone who didn’t actually believe they deserved happiness. That was like asking to be used as a therapist, or worse, a crutch. 

So, when Phoebe finally worked up the nerve to talk about it, they would talk about it. Until then, Patience would just keep pretending to be clueless (not that she really thought she was fooling anyone _but_ Phoebe). 

Anyways, having the same sleeping schedule and morning routine for sixteen years straight meant her friends were usually very aware of her whereabouts at any given time; it usually wasn’t hard to guess where Patience was, because she rarely felt the urge or necessity to deviate from her routine. So it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Ella Parks decided to make an appearance around 10am, springing up on Patience in her home. 

“Patience, honey, your friend Ella’s here,” came her mother’s gentle voice. 

Ella wasn’t far behind her, quickly barging in. “Listen up, St. Pim, because I just heard some _hot goss_ you need to know about.”

Two eyebrows raised. Patience had already been wearing her sunglasses, fortunately. They added to her brand, you know? 

Not to mention it gave her the ability to mask some of her emotions. Most people had a difficult time figuring out what was going on in her head, and it was in large part thanks to her constant physical barrier preventing most people from looking her in the eye. 

“About what, exactly?”

_“Marceline.”_

“What did that idiot do now?”

“Okay, well, not actually Marceline, but her boyfriend. Ash.”

“I’d love it if you could find your point somewhere around here, Ella. Do you need help looking for it, or do you think you can get to it on your own?” was her dry response. 

“Okay, first of all, shut the fuck up. I didn’t drive all the way over here at the crack of dawn just to get your attitude for no reason.”

“ _First of all_ , nobody told you to drive here, in fact I’m still not sure why you _did._ Second, it is not the crack of dawn, it is 10am. Third, I’d say I have a pretty good reason for my attitude, considering you still won’t get to the goddamn point.”

Ella laughed. “Whatever, you fucking bitch. So Melissa told me that she heard from Cherry who heard from Prismo who heard from Tiffany that Ash made out with Cam Macey at her party last night.” 

“Sounds very credible,” said Patience flatly. 

“Don’t insult me, St. Pim, you know I check my facts. There’s _pics_.” Impatiently, the blonde pulled out her phone, only taking a second or two to find what she was looking for. 

“So why did you make me listen to the entire chain of hearsay if you had a picture that would prove the point?” Patience inquired as she looked at the picture. It was entirely damning; Ash was kissing Camille Macey, a senior with platinum blonde hair, who was very clearly not Marceline. His face was towards the camera, so there could be no doubt, and the picture was time-stamped. 

Patience considered herself a good friend, and part of being a good friend was a certain degree of protectiveness over your friends. You had to look out for them, which sometimes necessitates punching a friend’s cheating boyfriend. So now the obligation was on her, obviously. She had to go knock him out and then go explain to Marceline what had happened. 

But the logical side of her brain (which was admittedly more in control), had a nagging feeling that Marceline might just let this indiscretion slide. She knew her friend didn’t exactly have a great relationship with boundaries and standards, and Ash would try to talk his way out of anything. She knew, on some level, this might not be enough for Marceline to break up with him. Would her effort be wasted, then? Why protect your friends who won’t even protect themselves? Was it worth it?

_Well, if Marceline’s not going to hold him accountable, that’s all the more reason for someone else to do it._

Why did that someone else always have to be her? She groaned internally, but she knew the truth was that she was simply more mature than most of her friends, and being more mature meant making the tough decisions. Like starting a fight she knew she wouldn’t win, even if she could probably win physically. It wouldn’t matter if Marceline chose to forgive him, but that wasn’t really up to Patience. 

_Whatever. That’s the way the cookie crumbles._ She let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as Ella yammered on about Cam Macey and how someone needed to set Ash straight. 

“Yeah, I know,” she agreed, nodding. “Fine. Let’s go talk to him. It’s not going to matter, Marceline has like no self-respect.”

“That girl needs standards,” Ella agreed. “But you can’t blame her for not knowing better yet. It’s her first relationship ever and she’s like, all sad and emo.” 

Patience and Ella made their way outside, Ella offering to drive her to the high school where Ash was apparently at for summer conditioning for the track team. 

Ash, like most people in Maple Valley, had been in school with them since kindergarten. He was going into eleventh grade, just like Patience, Ella, Lady, and Jake, and so had known them all fairly well for years. 

They’d never gotten along with him, generally he was an egotistical jerk. Patience had known things would probably go poorly when Marceline decided to date him, but again, not her choice to make. Which was dumb, because some of her friends would be doing much better if they took more of Patience’s advice. 

_Well, whatever. Not my problem either._ Except it usually became her problem. Like now, since the dumbass had to go and cheat on Marceline already. Couldn’t even give the relationship a month. Sickening. 

Ella pulled into the parking lot. Naturally, the girl’s timing had been perfect, and track practice was just letting out. Patience spotted Ash walking from the gym to his shitty car. A couple of his friends were with him, but Patience couldn’t quite tell who they were from the car. It didn’t matter, anyways; she wasn’t the type to be intimidated. 

“Alright girl, let’s go confront that jerkbag,” said Ella as they got out of the car, walking towards the boys who still hadn’t noticed them. 

“Hey, Ash! Why’d you make out with Cam Macey you stupid asshole!” Ella yelled when they were about ten yards away, completely ruining any element of surprise Patience might have had. That was fine. She didn’t need it. 

Ash turned around, eyebrows lowering. His friends, who Patience now realized were Rico and Leroy, a couple of losers in their grade, simply observed the exchange. “Ella, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said forcefully, “And even if I did, it’s none of your business. What the fuck are you two doing here anyways? Come to yell at me? Give me a good slap on the wrist?” He laughed. “And don’t act like you’re something to be scared of, St. Pim. You pretend like you’re some force to be reckoned with, but you don’t scare me in the slightest.” 

“Yeah?” Patience said, deceptively calm. “That’s alright, Ash. I’m not here to threaten you.” 

“Well, then what the hell do you - “ He was cut off, as you have probably already guessed, by Patience’s fist in his face, the force of which sent him toppling backwards against his car and nearly causing him to fall. His hand flew up defensively to cover his face, and after a moment or two of shock, he pulled it away. His lip was split, and he spit out some blood and a molar on the pavement below. 

“You fucking _bitch,”_ he said, immediately leaping at her to hit back, causing a messy fight to erupt. 

“You go girl! Kick his ass!” Ella was cheering her on, and some of the other members of the team had heard and were now bolting over to see what the commotion was about. 

One guy, a sandy-haired senior they knew by the name of Chad Michaelson, asked Ella if they were fighting because of “Cam’s party”, which he had been at. She quickly confirmed, and he decided it was probably time to break up the fight, stepping in and physically restraining Ash. Patience had held her own, and his face was pretty busted up, but she had a few bruises and a bloody nose too. 

Luckily, at least none of the coaches had stuck around after practice, so it wasn’t like they were going to get in any trouble for the fight, but Ella had definitely been recording it.

Patience, for her part, collected herself, taking in a few deep, ragged breaths. “Alright, Ella, let’s go. I’ll see you around, Chad.” The jock nodded at her with a friendly smile, still gripping Ash’s shoulders to prevent him from trying to restart the fight. 

The drive home, all Ella could talk about was how awesome the fight had been, and how Patience had “definitely won” (which was kind of true). Patience was tired, though, because she knew that in a way that had been the easy part. The hard part was now, when she had to go home and call Marceline and tell her why she’d just beaten the crap out of her friend’s boyfriend. 

“God, I don’t even want to have this conversation. Why couldn’t he just keep it in his pants?” she muttered. 

Ella agreed with her. “Shakin’ my head at him, girl. Marceline can do better. Speaking of which, is she coming to the party tonight?” 

Of course. She’d briefly forgotten about the plans they’d all made a few days ago. At least a night of smoking and drinking with her friends would be something fun to look forward to. “Not sure. I guess we’ll see how she takes the news that her boyfriend made out with and probably slept with another girl last night.”

“Well, if it were me I’d want to party. We can get her mind off things, get her back in her groove.”

Patience snorted at that. When Marceline wanted to brood, no amount of partying could ‘get her mind off things’ but Ella was a strong believer in the infallible power of the party.

When Ella dropped her off and sped off to start party prepping, she texted Marceline asking if she wanted to hang out. She did, so Patience headed to her house, rubbing her temples as she parked in the driveway and waited for her friend. 

Marceline came out after just a minute or two, smiling as she got in the passenger seat. “Hey, dude. How’s it going?”

“Not the best. Did you hear anything about the party at Cam Macey’s house last night?” 

Marceline shook her head, looking concerned. “No, I didn’t. What happened? Were you there or something?”

Patience had to bite back a laugh at that. “You couldn’t pay me to ever willingly spend time with her and her friends. Anyways, I have some bad news. Ash went to the party and there are pics of him making out with Cam Macey last night.”

All the color drained from Marceline’s face. “Um. Do you have them?” was her quiet query after a moment. 

“Yeah, Ella sent them to like a million people,” she said, quickly pulling up a screenshot of the photo to prove the truth to Marceline. The younger girl stared at the photo for several minutes as if transfixed, and then she was blinking suddenly and shaking her head, before closing her eyes tightly. 

“I can’t believe he’d do something like that.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and she sounded horribly sad even to Patience’s unemotional mind. 

“Oh, one more thing girl,” Patience said. “I kicked his ass this morning right outside of the high school.” 

Marceline laughed, then, but it still sounded sad. “You shouldn’t have done that, he’s going to try and get back at you.”

“Okay? And I’ll kick his ass again, Marce. Meanwhile, the question is what are _you_ going to do?”

Marceline sighed. “Break up with him, I guess.” She paused. “I just don’t get why everyone has to let me down.”

_Because you’re only fifteen and nobody knows what they’re doing yet at our ages._ She couldn’t say that, it wouldn’t help. Marceline was the kind of person who needed to feel like an individual and have her individual worth affirmed at times like this.

“Look, Marceline, this isn’t a reflection on you. You’re a good person and you’re just trying to be happy and make it through high school. The fact that he kissed another girl like a week and a half into your relationship is entirely because he’s worthless, and you’re going to date many more people who are going to treat you much better. This is just a . . false start, you know? At least you found out early on.” 

Marceline nodded, face blank. Patience took her to get lunch, trying to gauge how deeply this was affecting Marceline. She seemed okay, if sad. She didn’t seem to think it was the end of the world, but she was very quiet and seemed lost in thought more often than not. 

“Did you still wanna come to Ella’s party tonight?” Patience asked as she dropped Marceline off. It was about 1pm. 

“Sure. It might help, I don’t know. What time is the party?”

“Around nine, I think. Need a ride?”

“Sure.”

“Gotcha. I’ll see ya later then, Marcy.”

. . . 

Simon’s new apartment was a forty-five minute walk both ways, but it was still preferable to asking her father for a ride. He just made everything so unnecessarily _difficult,_ and she didn’t want to have to tell him why she urgently needed to talk to Uncle Simon. Boy troubles were absolutely _not_ something she ever wanted to discuss with her father. 

There was very little she did want to discuss with her father, though. 

When she got there, Simon was painting. He wasn’t exactly great at it, but she liked his work more than any of the greats. He was currently painting a white lily, but he put the paintbrush down and looked up when she walked in. 

“Hello, Marceline. I didn’t know you were visiting today. Did we have plans?” He looked a little befuddled, uncertain if his memory had failed him again or if she really was making a surprise visit. 

“Oh, no, sorry, I’ve just been having a rough day and I wanted to talk to you about things.”

He offered her a soft smile behind his wire glasses. His hair was going gray, beginning to overtake his natural dark brown with age, but he was still in one of the tweed suits he used to teach in, and the sight eased some of her anxiety. Age was catching up to him, sure, but he still looked like himself, still had much of his mind intact. For now, he was still mostly okay. It gave her some relief, and she sighed as she took a seat across from him. 

“I started dating this guy, Ash, a couple of weeks ago,” she began. Subtly, her uncle’s eyebrows raised. 

“Oh? Is he nice to you?” Was his first question. 

“That’s the thing.” She dropped her gaze to the ground, where she was tapping her shoe against the wood floor. “Last night he made out with some girl at a party. I saw pictures, so like, it’s not even a question. It just sucks, because I thought he wasn’t like that. I thought he really cared about me, you know? I don’t know, Uncle Simon. Sometimes it just seems like you’re the only one who’s ever really been reliable. My dad sucks, Marshall used to be there but he’s been gone for years and we hardly talk now, and the only guy I’ve tried to date is apparently a wad.” 

Simon nodded pensively, letting her get everything out before speaking. “How do you feel? Are you angry? Want me to punch his face?”

Marceline laughed. Simon always knew what to say. “Actually, someone already took care of that. My friend Patience.”

“Well, then it sounds like there’s at least one other person you can rely on.” He smiled gently. “Isn’t that something to smile about?”

_Huh. I guess he has a point. She really knocked Ash out for me with no hesitation._ “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I might have a few decent friends.” Then, all the energy left her body at once, and she leaned back into the chair defeatedly. “I’m pretty mad at him,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t know what to do about that, though.”

“You gotta let your feelings out,” he began, “but try to keep balance. You might think your only choices are to swallow your feelings or to throw them in someone’s face, but sometimes you can choose to just let it go and go on living your life from there.”

She wasn’t sure exactly what to make of that but something in it resonated, so she thought it over while they played a game of chess (one of Simon’s favorite pastimes). When she went home, she felt better than she had before, and shot Ash a text. 

_Marceline 5:48pm: saw the pics from the party. I think we should probably call it quits._

_Ash 6:30pm: Babe no, you have the wrong idea. She basically threw herself on me, and some people snapped some pics because I was too drunk to realize what was going on and push her off me. But it only lasted like a second and then I did._

Marceline thought about that text for the next two and a half hours. She thought about that text while she was getting dressed, she thought about that text while she was doing her makeup, she thought about that text when she heard her phone buzzing several times with his texts of concern about her lack of response, and she thought about nothing _but_ that text while she was waiting for Patience to pick her up for the party. Was there any truth to it? Almost certainly not. But did a large part of her _want_ it to be true? Without a doubt. 

Well, if he was lying, she’d be able to tell if they spoke in person. She could always tell in person, but texts were harder to be sure about. 

_Marceline 9:01pm: come over in person tomorrow if that’s really true, and we can talk about it. I’m not promising we won’t break up though._

_Ash 9:02pm: Thank you babe, trust me, you’ll see, this is just a misunderstanding._

. . . 

It was around 8:30 when Finn texted Bonnibel to let her know he and Jake were in the driveway to pick her up for the party. She’d chosen a simple outfit and a pair of pink canvas shoes, and threw on some lip gloss before heading upstairs to leave. She passed Lolly in the kitchen on her way out, as usual, letting her know where she was off to. 

“Okay, Bon, have fun!”

Just as Bonnie was about to open the front door, her aunt suddenly exclaimed “Oh! Wait! One more thing before you go!”

She turned back to her aunt. “What’s up?”

“Remember how I asked you to make it home by midnight?”

Bonnibel nodded. 

“I’d still like you to do that, but I’m about to tell you something very important because I need to convey a message to you, and I’m trusting you not to take advantage of that by intentionally staying out later than midnight if you can help it.”

This was the most serious she had seen her aunt. “Okay, I understand, I won’t let you down. What did you want to tell me?”

“This is a very important rule that I wish someone had been there to explain to me. While I feel much better about your safety when you’re home before midnight, I know there are times when things happen and time gets away from us, or we think, ‘What’s the harm in staying out another hour or two?’, you know what I mean?”

“Um, yes, I think I’m following?” Bonnibel wasn’t sure exactly where this was going. 

“What I’m saying is, you are definitely going to have times in your life where you’ll stay out past midnight. I’d prefer you save them for college, but if you sneak a few late nights in during high school, I think we can probably let it slide as long as you promise me _one thing.”_ Her aunt looked her directly in the eye, expression deadly serious. “ _Never_ stay out past 2am. When 2am rolls around, just go home. Ideally, go home _and_ go to sleep.” 

“I mean, okay, but why 2am specifically?”

Her aunt’s expression never wavered. “Nothing good _ever_ happens after 2am. All your common sense goes to sleep. I try not to make a habit out of preaching to you about how you should live your life, but this is one thing you should absolutely trust me on. So, don’t push it or anything, but a few late nights are okay as long as you make it back before 2. Also, I wanted to tell you that now while you’re young and impressionable so that it sticks in your mind, because this rule is for life, even when you’re an adult and you don’t have a curfew, you catch my drift?” 

Bonnibel nodded, pondering that for a moment. Her aunt had yet to impart any wisdom on her, and this felt sort of like being handed down a family proverb. It didn’t feel like she was being lectured or nagged, it just felt like good advice. “I do catch your drift, Aunt Lolly. I’ll be sure to never stay out past 2am.”

Her aunt nodded, looking satisfied that she had gotten her point across, and Bonnie left, still thinking about her aunt’s words as she got in the back of Jake’s car and said hello to the boys. They were picking up Lady on the way, of course. 

The funny thing was, _Bonnibel_ didn’t stay out past 2am that night, or any night after (at least until October 3rd, but more on that later). She, for the most part, followed her aunt’s advice very carefully. 

If everyone else had followed suit, that weekend could have been much simpler for everyone. 

They picked up Lady, the blonde girl immediately launching into a conversation about what had happened with Ash and Camille Macey, a person Bonnibel hadn’t even heard of before this moment. 

“Yeah, so, I know Finn and Jake saw the pics, but I don’t know if you did Bonnie.” Lady pulled up a screenshot of the picture to show her before continuing her thoughts. “Anyways, so then Ella told me that she went and told Patience in person this morning because she knows Patience is not afraid to fight, and then Patience went and punched Ash in the parking lot at the school, so obviously that escalated into a fight, and she WON!”

“Good for her,” Jake said immediately and with complete seriousness, “If Ella had told me first, me and Finn would’ve done the same thing. That guy’s a total wad and he should leave Marcy alone.”

Finn echoed his agreement. “Yeah, someone’s gotta punch jerks. So how’d Marceline find out? Has she broken up with him yet?”

“That’s the _thing,”_ Lady said, the tone of her voice gaining suspense, “ _Apparently_ Ash told Leroy who told someone else who told someone else who told Ella who told me, that Marceline texted him a few hours ago and said they should call it quits, and hasn’t answered any of his texts yet, so like, I think so? But it seemed like an underreaction for her, you know? Kinda weird that that’s all she said. I’m pretty sure she’s coming to Ella’s party, so I guess we’ll find out for sure then.” 

When they got to Ella’s, it was only 8:50pm. Hunter and Phoebe were already there, as well as Ella’s boyfriend Brad, who Bonnibel had zero interest in speaking to or associating herself with due to his general brainlessness. 

About ten minutes later, Patience and Marceline arrived, and Keila and Maja showed up shortly after. Bonnibel hadn’t seen either of them since the first night she’d met her friends, and neither of them spoke very much to her either. Maja seemed interesting if a little reserved, and Keila was very nice (although Bonnie had heard from Finn and Jake that Keila hardly showed up to anything anymore, because she spent all her time with her boyfriend). 

Marceline, of course, looked very attractive, with her ripped jeans and black halter-top, and her hair was up in a bun, a few strands falling around her face. She looked gloomy, but Bonnibel couldn’t really blame her for that. Feeling brave, Bonnie grabbed a couple of drinks from the cooler and sat next to Marceline on one of Ella’s beige couches, offering one to the goth girl with a smile and a “Hey, Marceline.”

Most of their friends were in the kitchen, arguing loudly over what kind of pizzas they wanted to order. She could hear Ella, Jake, and Patience among the loudest voices, each unwilling to compromise. 

But just for a second, it was only the two of them in Ella’s living room, and Marceline gave her a sad smile and a “Thanks, Bonnie.” Marceline removed the cap from her drink, taking a very long sip and then a very deep sigh. 

“So I guess you probably heard about what happened with Ash,” Marceline said after a moment, deciding to acknowledge the elephant in the room. 

“Yeah, Lady and the boys filled me in on the way over. Sorry, by the way. He’s a jerk, and it sucks that now the whole school has seen those pictures.” 

Marceline shrugged. “I guess. I mean, now they all just know he’s an asshole, right? Everyone saw him kiss another girl, a lot of people think he cheated on me, and I keep hearing different stories about what really happened.” Marceline took a deep breath, putting her face in her hands. “Sorry to just dump all this on you, man. I know you don’t really know me or care about my relationship problems.” 

“Of course I care about your problems,” Bonnibel said matter-of-factly, “We’re basically best friends now after Finn’s birthday.” 

Marceline actually laughed at that, and Bonnibel tried not to think about how warm that made her feel. 

Before either of them could say anything else, Ella was barreling into the living room. “Hey losers, stop canoodling on my couch and come outside, Jake’s rolling up some weed on the patio before dinner.” 

Bonnibel could feel her blush giving her away at the insinuation, but she didn’t want to give Ella the chance to notice and call her out for it, so she quickly agreed and stoof to follow the blonde outside, Marceline trailing behind them. 

Their friends were outside, although Hunter and Maja were missing. 

“We sent them to pick up the pizzas,” Jake explained at her inquiry about it, “Because nobody was going to feel much like driving after they smoked.”

“I’m just glad you guys could finally agree on toppings,” Marceline said with a teasing grin. 

“Okay, first of all, it’s an important decision you dink,” was Ella’s immediate retort. 

“Yes,” Patience agreed, “For example, this blonde idiot with the IQ of a McChicken wanted to get _mushrooms_ on one of our pizzas _.”_

“Are you talking about me, bitch? McChicken THIS!” apparently already tipsy and having too much fun, Ella removed one of her sandals and threw it directly at Patience’s head. The taller and more sober girl quickly put up her hand to deflect it, looking at the girl with an unimpressed smirk. 

“Cool your jets. Ell. You know I love you despite your deficiencies,” said the tall girl condescendingly, smiling with full red lips, eyes concealed beneath her round sunglasses as always. 

“You’re the one who’s _deficient,_ you frozen bitch,” Ella argued, rolling her eyes, but smiling anyways. 

_These girls really play rough, huh?_ Bonnibel thought amusedly. It was refreshing to be around people with such thick skin; Bonnie herself had never been the most tactful or nice person to her peers, but Patience and Ella were far meaner on their best days than Bonnibel on her worst day, and yet she hadn’t seen any real conflicts arise within the friend group yet as a result. It was nice to know she probably wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally saying the wrong thing and scaring people off, or worse, accidentally hurting their feelings. 

About thirty minutes later, Maja and Hunter were back with the food, and for a few hours they all ate and played card games that Bonnibel thought were a little dumb, occasionally taking a break to ingest more alcohol or smoke more weed. 

Later, Bonnibel wouldn’t quite remember whose idea it had been to do what came next, but she did remember hearing Ella and Jake trying to convince Patience, Finn, and Lady that it would be a good idea as they all sat gathered around the massive dining room table.

“Come on, you guys, don’t be lame, a little light vandalism never hurt anybody,” Ella said. 

“Maybe not, but I don’t exactly want the cops calling my parents to tell them I spray-painted the high school. They’ll flip their lids,” Lady pointed out, a pensive expression on her face as if she still wanted to risk it despite the truth of her words. 

“I mean, it _is_ summer,” Jake pointed out, “And it’s the middle of the night, babe. I doubt anyone’s even awake, and if they are, they’re probably not lurking around the school grounds on the prowl for teen vandals. It would be a fun little adventure to finish the night!”

“Okay, you might’ve convinced me,” she said with a smile, although Bonnibel doubted it had really taken much to convince her. 

“You haven’t convinced _me,_ however,” Patience interjected. 

“This honestly just sounds a little risky?” Finn added. “And like, pointlessly so? Sure it’ll be fun, but it’s not like any of us are THAT good at art, so what are we gaining here?” It was the most skeptical and least agreeable she’d seen the boy so far, but he still sounded unsure, like he was also only a moment or two away from compromise. 

Patience, however, was another story. She looked entirely unamused about the prospect of spray-painting the side of their high school in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Bonnibel couldn’t say she blamed her; this seemed like a bad idea to her too, and if she weren’t so high she probably would have been inclined to participate in the argument process here, but she _was_ pretty high, so she just leaned back in her chair and observed. 

“Personally, I just don’t think it’s going to be that fun, and some nosy old lemonhead is probably going to see us from their, like, fucking bedroom window or something and call the cops, because that’s usually what happens to us when we try to illegal things in _public.”_ Patience had a very good point, but she was slowly being outnumbered, and the scales only tipped further out of her favor when Maja interjected. 

“Honestly, I feel like everything will be fine,” said Maja. She had tawny brown skin, and now that Bonnibel got a closer look at her tattoos, it was clear that there were many more than she’d first realized, an intricate array of runes, symbols, and pictures. In addition, Maja had warm brown eyes so light they were almost gold, and she was wearing a cut-off and some leggings. She looked like she knew _everything_ in a way Bonnibel didn’t, like she knew things that were ancient and hidden. 

From what Bonnie had heard about her, she _did._ The boys had mentioned once that Maja was a very “spiritual” person, very educated on the subjects of tarot, astrology, meditation, and witchcraft. Not like, Halloweentown or Harry Potter kind of witchcraft, like, real traditional witchcraft. Bonnibel hadn’t realized that was a thing, actually, and she wasn’t sure she really believed in any of those things (she wasn’t sure if she believed in anything she couldn’t see, actually), but Maja seemed to be a very rational and intelligent person, and not at all crazy or delusional, so maybe there was something to that. 

At the very least, Bonnibel got the impression that Maja in particular knew a lot about the world that she didn’t, likely saw the world _very_ differently than she did, and something about that was sort of enticing. _Not in that kind of way,_ she quickly established in her mind. While the girl was inarguably attractive, that wasn’t the pull Bonnibel was feeling. It was more like the pull of curiosity, of a student, or a scholar. _Or a friend, maybe._ Maja was reserved and hadn’t spoken as much as the others during the night, but everyone seemed to take what she _did_ say seriously. Who could blame Bonnibel for wanting to get to know her? 

“Well, there you have it,” Jake said happily, a smile of success splitting his face in half, his voice snapping Bonnibel’s awareness back to the present moment. “If Maja doesn’t think it’s a bad idea, it’s not.” 

“Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Maja quickly corrected with a pointed smile, “but I mean, if they do call the cops, the worst that happens is someone’s parents have to come get us from the station. And since we’re lucky enough to have Bonnibel Banner here with us, she can just call Lolly, and then our parents probably won’t even hear about it. That’s the worst case scenario, and it doesn’t really sound that bad to _me,”_ she explained, shrugging at the end. “And honestly, I just feel like we’ll all be fine, we’re all underage anyways.”

Marceline suddenly leaned in to Bonnibel to speak to her in a quiet voice. “Hope you’re ready for an excursion, Banner. Maja’s basically a fucking psychic so when she says ‘I feel’ about something like this, then whatever words follow are _law.”_

“So she basically makes all the final decisions?” Bonnibel asked, brows furrowed. That didn’t sound very democratic. 

“No, not really,” Marceline tried to explain, “It’s not like we don’t have a choice, she wouldn’t care if we listened or not to what she says, she really doesn’t give a damn, but I’ve been friends with her for a long time and I can tell you for a fact that her intuition is basically _always_ right. Saves a lot of time if we listen to her when she does speak up, you know? Which isn’t that often anyways, usually she just leaves us to our own mistakes.” 

“I think that makes sense? Do you really put that much stock in like, divination?” Bonnibel asked in a whisper. 

“I don’t know, dude, why not? There’s a lot about the world and religion and like, spirits and stuff that they don’t tell you in school or church, you know? And I sure as hell don’t know enough about it to say whether it’s really real or not, but Maja’s parents taught her all this knowledge and stuff. I guess it’s like, info that’s been passed down in her family for a long time.”

“You two are not that quiet, and I can hear you,” Maja said flatly from across the table. “Anyways, Banner, there’s a lot more to it than just what Marcy said. You some kind of cynic?” Despite her words, her tone didn’t sound aggressive or irritated in the least. She was even almost smiling, her corner of her lips twisting up a little. 

“No, I just don’t really know that I believe in anything,” she said neutrally, trying to avoid saying anything that would sound narrow-minded or ignorant. 

Maja nodded thoughtfully. “A lot of people would probably say the same.” She shrugged. “Well, if you’re ever curious about all the weird shit I do, just come and find out.” 

Bonnibel wasn’t quite certain, but she thought she might’ve seen Maja wink at the end. She put that thought out of her mind; she was probably mistaken anyways. 

“Well, are you goons ready to go do some delinquency?” Jake asked finally. 

“Of course,” came Marceline’s cool response, and they all headed off, splitting up into three different cars (Jake’s, Ella’s, and Patience’s). Marceline and Bonnibel ended up riding with Patience and Phoebe, and Bonnibel was hardly surprised to discover that by the time they met up at the school, Jake had procured a plastic bag full of bottles of spray paint. 

“Where did you even get those at this hour? Have you just had them laying around?” Patience demanded with an incredulous smile, both shocked and impressed. 

“No, dummy, we stopped at Walmart. It’s only five minutes from Ella’s and it’s open 24 hours,” the burly boy clarified as if it should have been obvious, and began passing cans of spray paint around.

Bonnie declined when he offered her a bright pink bottle. “Vandalising a school isn’t really my cup of tea,” she said with a smile. 

“You’re a nerd,” was Marceline’s immediate conclusion, while Jake simply shrugged and moved on. 

“Maybe just a bit,” she agreed with a smile. 

Her friends proceeded to leave some crude drawings and tags on the wall of the school that faced the football field. 

“I think our little mural’s almost done,” Jake announced about twenty minutes later. “Just one more thing.” He took a can of yellow spray paint and painted “ACAB.” in massive letters, leaving an ironic smiley-face at the end. 

Bonnibel, of course, was familiar with the acronym, having grown up in California where it was common knowledge that the police (and government in general) were corrupt; she didn’t particularly disagree. 

But _damn_ he had bad timing, because it was at that exact moment as they all stood under the stars in the parking lot of an empty school looking at their handiwork, that the police decided to show up, sirens sudden and deafening, blue and red lights suddenly casting their shadows on the wall. 

“SCATTER!” came the direct command from Jake, who immediately took off running behind the school with Finn and Lady in tow, undoubtedly trying to think of a way to sneak back to his car without the police catching them. 

Bonnibel felt frozen in place; she’d never been in a situation like this before, and she hadn’t come in a car, and she honestly wasn’t exactly sure which way to run since she didn’t know how to get home _or_ back to Ella’s from where she was. 

Fortunately, Marceline was still right beside her, and gripped her hand tightly, hissing “Come _on,_ we have to fucking GO,” before pulling her off in the direction opposite Lady and the boys. Patience and Phoebe had already made themselves scarce, nowhere to be seen, and she could make out Ella and Hunter running in another direction. It seemed Keila and Maja had slipped out of sight already as well, although she wasn’t sure which way they’d gone or if they were simply hiding behind something nearby. 

In any case, there was no time to stay and find out, one of the officers was getting out of the car and making his way towards where Bonnibel and Marceline were, since they were closest. 

“Pick up the pace, Banner,” Marceline said sharply, taking off at a sprint, Bonnibel’s hand still in hers, forcing the other girl to keep up. 

“Hey, you kids come back here! I know that’s you, Marceline Abadeer! You might as well just come back and talk to me, I won’t call Hunson, I promise!” Came the officer’s plea as he tried to chase them, but they were younger and faster, and he seemed to realize he coouldn’t keep up. 

The last thing Bonnie saw of the officer was him stopping to catch his breath, hands on his knees as his partner stepped out of the car and put a hand on his shoulder. Then, she and Marceline were running into a small area of woods, and they were out of sight. 

Marceline took that as an opportunity to stop and catch her breath as well. “Sorry I yelled and like, yanked your arm out of your shoulder, Bonnie,” she said in between breaths. “You were just standing there like, frozen, and there was no way I was letting you catch the blame for this.” 

“Thank you, I’m glad you did that,” Bonnibel assured her, trying to catch her own breath as well. “So, now we all just walk home, I guess?” Belatedly, she realized it had been an unreasonable amount of time since she’d checked the time, so she pulled out her phone. _1:19am._ Damn. Lolly would probably think she was taking advantage of the conversation they’d had and purposely stayed out later than midnight, so she decided to shoot her a quick text letting her know she was on the way home from Ella’s party. While her aunt was very cool, she probably wouldn’t be thrilled to find out her niece had been at the school with her punk friends while they vandalized it in the middle of the night just for kicks.

“I don’t know about you, but I doubt any of them are going to give us a ride tonight, assuming they even make it back to their cars. If those cops are still at the school, they’’re all probably already walking home.” 

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you later then?” Bonnibel said, assuming Marceline would want to set off towards home as soon as she could, and thinking with anxiety about the fact that she herself had no idea which way home was, being too unfamiliar with the town. 

“Nah, Banner, I’m not letting you walk home alone.” Marceline shook her head. “It’s dark and the middle of the night and you probably don’t even know where you’re going.” 

“Are you sure? Because aren’t you going to have to walk home alone after that?” 

“I don’t mind,” Marceline said easily, and she looked like she really meant it, but Bonnie wouldn’t hear of it. 

“If I’m not allowed to walk home alone in the dark then neither are you,” Bonnie said, sticking her tongue out. 

“Well, there’s not really any other option, because there’s just two of us,” Marceline argued, looking as if she thought that would win the dispute. 

“Well, we can compromise. You can walk me home if you sleep over tonight.” 

Marceline’s eyebrows rose at that. “I don’t know, I’ve never been to your house before, and I wouldn’t want to be in your way or in your space or anything.” 

“Well I guess we can both walk home alone then, because you’re not walking me home just to have to walk double the distance back to your house at 2am.” 

“Don’t be stubborn,” Marceline said, which was laughable, because stubborn may as well have been Bonnibel’s middle name. 

“Either you stay over or we both walk home alone,” she said, raising her brows in an obvious challenge. 

After a long moment, Marceline broke. “Okay, fine, whatever.” 

She should’ve gone home. 

“Good, because you were right, I really have no clue how to get home from here. I’ve only been to the school once, and I don’t really remember the route we took.” 

Marceline chuckled. “I gotcha, girl. I know how to get to Finn and Jake’s, and don’t you live across the street?”

“Yeah.” Then, something occurred to her. Most of her friends knew where she lived because they’d been to the house well before Bonnie had arrived, because their parents were mostly not far from Lolly’s age and had grown up with her, and she often had picnics and get-togethers. But Marceline had just said she’d never been to the house before. 

“So, I take it you aren’t among the seemingly endless number of people who know my aunt better than I do, then?”

Marceline snorted as they walked along, heading south. “Not really. I’ve met her enough times in passing to know who she is, but my dad never liked to socialize outside of work or anything so we never went to any of the like, parties or holidays Lolly had, although the others usually did because their parents are normal.” 

“Why doesn’t your dad like to socialize?” Bonnie asked gently, sensing that there was more to that story. 

“He became a wad when my mom died,” Marceline said matter-of-factly, before her tone grew sad. “Um, she got really sick out of nowhere and passed away when I was five, and we were never really a family after that, there was just my dad living his life as an overworking recluse and Marshall and I just trying to like, process that on our own.” 

Bonnibel knew she was staring but couldn’t help it; they were walking along a backroad now, and Marceline’s features were illuminated by the moonlight in a way that could only be described as devastatingly ethereal. 

“Losing two parents at once must have been awful,” Bonnibel responded somberly. “I’m sorry you had to grow up without the support and care you needed.” 

Marceline shrugged, kicking a stray rock out of the path as they walked along. “I mean, I had my uncle, and I still do. He’s there for us as much as he can be, and so was his wife before she passed last year.” 

“So does your brother still live with you?”

“Nah, he lives in Pittsburgh now. Doesn’t really visit much, even though it’s only like a few hours away.” 

Bonnibel nodded, then made a decision. _I’ll tell you one of mine if you tell me one of yours, right? It’s only fair_. “Part of the reason I moved here is because my parents were worried about my aunt.” 

Maybe it wasn’t actually that fair, since she wasn’t giving as much of her story away as Marceline had, but it was something, and it was more than anyone else knew about her. She just wasn’t quite ready to talk about what was going on with Ned yet. 

Marceline looked at her with evident confusion. “Your parents sent you, a fifteen-year-old, to live with your aunt permanently like a million miles away because they were worried about her? Instead of just talking to her, or, I don’t know, coming to check on her themselves?” 

Bonnibel laughed, shaking her head. “No, you’ve got it a little backwards. I needed to move anyways, regardless of which family member I ended up living with, so this wasn’t the whole reason I moved, or even really a major part of it, I, um, just couldn’t stay with my parents. But like, I have three uncles too who live in different places and would have probably been willing to take me in. It just ended up being Lolly because her fiance committed suicide last year, and they’re worried that she’s just pretending to be okay and is secretly not coping well at all. They trust her to take care of me, don’t get me wrong, they don’t think she’s like on drugs or anything, it was moreso just my mom saying ‘Your aunt would probably be very happy to have some family around and not be stuck in that house all by herself, living in the past.’” 

Marceline let out a low whistle. “That’s dark. I’d heard about his passing, but I had no idea it was a suicide. That’s gotta be really hard on her.” 

Bonnibel nodded. “I think it is, but she never really lets it show. For all intents and purposes, she seems completely recovered. So maybe my parents were a little paranoid, but I don’t know, it seems really unlikely that she’s actually like, healed, after just a year. It seems far _more_ likely that she just doesn’t want anyone to worry. But still, I hope me being around is helping her. Maybe it is, and she’s genuinely feeling better now that she has someone who needs her.”

“Would that be a bad thing?” Marceline asked. 

“No. If feeling like her niece needs her helps her feel motivated to keep going, or go to work, or socialize, then that’s a good thing. Either way, she doesn’t talk about it, and I don’t want to ask until she’s ready.”

They walked for another twenty minutes after that, switching to lighter topics of conversation until they arrived at the Banner house.. Bonnie checked the time and realized with relief she’d made it in the nick of time; it was 1:57am. The lights were still on, but that was okay, because she wasn’t late and hadn’t disappointed her aunt with the only hard rule she’d been given. 

“Are you sure you’re okay with staying over?” Bonnie asked, suddenly not as brave as she’d been before. “Lolly’s clearly still up since the lights are on, and I could probably ask her to drive you home if you want. I’m sure she would.” 

Bonnibel knew she was skirting the rules still, that if she should be home by 2am then so should Marceline, that she’d _just_ ended her relationship, probably wasn’t gay, and even if she was, was probably an emotional disaster right now. She wanted to give her an out to having to spend time alone with Bonnibel.

Marceline didn’t take it, though. “No, it’s okay, I’ll just crash here. I wouldn’t make your aunt do that, and I don’t really want to deal with my dad at 2am when I’m noticeably high and reeking of alcohol and weed anyways.” 

“Alright, let’s go inside then.” 

Lolly was, naturally, at the kitchen table. “Hey, Bonnie! Thank you for making it back before 2. Nice to see you, Marceline.” She raised a finger in mock-anger. “Don’t make a habit out of vandalizing the school, though, girls.”

Bonnie’s mouth fell open in shock. “How do you even know about that?”

Her aunt laughed good-naturedly. “Kid, I know everything. Now, I’m going to lock the doors and then finally go to _sleep_. Don’t get into any more trouble tonight.” She gently patted Bonnie’s shoulder as she passed her to lock the front door, and Marceline followed Bonnibel downstairs to her section of the house. 

“Wow, pretty sweet digs,” said Marceline, casting a glance at what was essentially an apartment of its own. 

“Yeah, Lolly put most of this furniture in when she found out I was coming. I think she painted, too. Pretty cool of her.” Suddenly Bonnie yawned, stretching as she did so and realized that it _had_ been quite a long night. “I’m pretty tired, I’m probably going to make some tea and call it a day. Would you like some?”

Another question she should not have asked. It was after 2am now, and she knew she should just go to sleep before her luck ran out, but what was the harm in some tea and conversation before they both passed out for the night? 

“Yeah, sure. I don’t drink it very often but it sounds kind of nice right now, it was a little cold out.” 

Bonnibel nodded as she made her way into the small kitchen to boil some water for them, pulling out the box of tea after she’d done so and setting up two little teacups for them on the counter. 

“Hey, wanna smoke before bed?” Marceline asked suddenly. “I just remembered I still have a joint in my pocket that I meant to share at the party.” 

Despite the fact that she generally refused to even consider smoking in her room, in her basement, or anywhere else in the house, for some reason she didn’t even stop to think about it before immediately saying “Yeah, sounds good.” She opened the nearest window as far as she could, and though it was very small due to the limitations of basement windows, she decided that would be good enough as she finished up the tea and Marceline sparked the joint. 

There was something about talking to Marceline that was just too nice, comfortable, serotonin-inducing, you name it. It was too pleasant for her common sense to talk over it, it kept politely telling her common sense that it could feel free to fuck off. 

So, her common sense did. If it weren’t so late, and she weren’t so tired, she might have thought about the fact that _Marceline_ had never actually said she’d broken up with Ash, Bonnibel had only heard Lady’s best guess, and even then it was a little iffy. 

But it was 2:09am now, and her common sense decided to pack it in. 

Marceline, for her part, knew perfectly well what her relationship status was, but if she was being honest with herself, she and Ash were almost certainly _going_ to break up the next morning, and here was the new girl making her tea at 2am, looking pink and cute and very very very interesting. And very _here,_ and very present, and sitting across from her with a smile.

And Marceline had been feeling alone for quite a long time. She was getting sick of it. 

She knew Bonnibel Banner was gay, of course. She’d heard their friends mention it a few times, and Marceline had always known she probably wasn’t entirely straight, but she’d thought things with Ash would last much longer than they had, and hadn’t been planning on really exploring or even acknowledging that side of her yet. 

And here she was, all the same, thinking about what it might be like to capture those full pink rose-petal lips in her own, maybe climb into her lap and thread her fingers through her hair. She’d probably blush, surprised, point out the fact that Marceline technically still had a boyfriend, but Marceline knew after just a few conversations with Bonnibel that she was undeniably intelligent, charmingly mysterious (Marceline could tell when she saw someone with _that_ many secrets), and altogether _hot as fuck._

Plus, Marceline was starting to feel high again, and her brain was having a hard time maintaining its resolve to not make a move. 

So, she made a move. 

She should have just gone home. 

But God, Bonnibel had soft plush lips and she tasted like peppermint tea and weed and . . . maybe bubblegum? And it wasn’t Marceline’s first kiss by any means, but it was absolutely the best so far, and she was sort of just awkwardly standing in front of Bonnie’s chair as they made out in her kitchen, and she was getting a slight cramp, but it was okay, because they were kissing and Marceline felt immediately, (and unfortunately incorrectly), that she had made the right call. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just to recap the important stuff this chap that might have seemed a little unclear or confusing (although I genuinely did my best to make everything as clear as possible. If you're still confused about anything that's happened so far, just ask!)   
> \- Patience got into a fistfight w/ Ash (bc he kissed some girl from their school at a party) and won before they were pulled apart by a friendly jock named Chad (Chad might come up again later, but probably not for like a WHILE)   
> \- Aunt Lolly says nothing good happens after 2am and shes RIGHT, but you won't realize how right she is yet!  
> \- Maja's important, but not as a love interest sort of character, and even tho it might've seemed a little gay when Bonnie was eyeing her up it's not going to interfere w the bubbline, just dw about it they're going to become friends and it's all innocent and platonic!! Bonnie's just a nerd who likes learning new things and I liked having a way to insert some other stuff into the story that you'll see more of later!   
> -So to be clear, technically Marceline and Ash are still dating, although personally I don't think it really matters in this context for a lot of reasons, but Bonnie definitely was under the impression that they'd already broken up. Marceline and Bonnibel both think they're on the same page at the end of this chapter (Marceline thinks Bonnibel knows she still Technically has a boyfriend, and Bonnibel has no idea).   
> -Also! You got some more info on how Bonnibel ended up moving in with Lolly! Keep that conversation in mind too, because it doesn't really become a plot point or anything but it does tell you a lot about Lolly herself. (it's not the full story at ALL, but it's a part of it)  
> -One more thing: This chapter ends very ambiguously, but before you even ask, no, they don't sleep together or anything after that. They're fifteen and even kissing someone is still a pretty big deal on its own to them, at least to Bonnibel and Marceline. I just ended it there because it felt like the natural stopping point of the chap. 
> 
> Okay, sorry for the unreasonably long author's notes. As always, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!


	6. But Who's the Dragon Anyways?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So, this chapter is much shorter than the last and includes a VERY BRIEF look at the aftermath of the end of Chap 5. It's very brief because Patience is the focal point of this chapter, but this chapter is kind of just setting up for the next few chapters, so there's a lot less happening in this one than in the last one.
> 
> Oh, and btw: Driving without a license (as one of the characters does) is illegal, stupid, and incredibly dangerous. I obviously don't condone this in any way, but it's important to the story.

_“Okay, so I’m the dragon. Big deal. You still get to be the hero.” - Richard Siken, Crush._

**July 17**

It was Keila’s birthday, and Marceline had texted her that morning asking if she was busy. She was, of course. She and Guy were taking a trip to the lake for the day. Patience was at work, and Marceline wouldn’t be caught dead at Finn and Jake’s right now. 

Which left Marceline alone with her thoughts all morning. For the most part, they circled around a few different things. Uncle Simon and his illness, which was still in its early stages, and didn’t seem to be affecting him too much just yet, which was a small relief. But then there was Keila and her complete abandonment of their friendship. Not to mention Bonnibel Banner, and the crushing feeling of knowing she’d made a stupid mistake. A mistake that could have been avoided entirely if she’d simply _not_ dragged her feet about breaking up with her boyfriend.

And now Bonnibel wouldn’t talk to her at all. Patience and the boys had tried to invite Marceline to a couple parties since then, but Marceline wasn’t interested in making things any worse, which was what her brain constantly screamed would happen if she ended up drunk or high near Bonnibel right now. Besides, the other girl had made it very clear that she had no interest in spending any time with her. 

Which was a fucking bummer, because Marceline had broken up with Ash anyway, and she wasn’t exactly sure about her sexuality but she _was_ sure about Bonnibel, and she’d already gone and donked it all up forever. Not to mention she’d been grounded for two weeks after her father had been informed about her little late-night vandalism run by one of his friends at the police department. One night had ended up screwing a lot of things up for her. It kind of blew that Bonnibel got to be right _and_ got to live under the guardianship of a super-lenient aunt who had been the party queen growing up. When _Lolly_ had found out about the vandalism, she had only laughed and said not to make a habit of it, while Marceline had spent two weeks alone in her house listening to Hunson lecture her. 

Finally, noon rolled around, meaning it was safe to text Maja without fear of being yelled at for interrupting her morning solitude or whatever. 

_Marceline 12:01pm: hey wyd today? wanna hang?_

_Maja 12:04pm: sure, I’ll pick you up in thirty._

_Marceline 12:06pm: natch._

Maja pulled in a solid forty-five minutes later, but Marceline wasn’t a nitpicker, and Maja was on her own time anyways and would probably just reply with something dumb about how “Time isn’t real anyways, Marceline,” and she just wasn’t in the mood for that kind of needling. 

“Good morning, Abadeer,” said Maja as Marceline got in the passenger side of her beige car. The seats were tan leather, the entire car being monochrome in shades of beige and tan aside from her red fluffy steering-wheel sleeve. 

“Morning, Wainwright. So what’s on the agenda?”

“I’ve been dying for a smoothie, so we’re stopping at Jamba Juice and then I figured we could go smoke at my house or something.”

Technically, Maja didn’t have her license and wasn’t allowed to drive yet, but she was very good at it and had never been pulled over or caught yet, and her parents didn’t see any reason to prevent her from driving when they had complete faith in her. Besides, she had her learner’s permit. 

For a while, neither of them spoke, just listening to Maja’s lo-fi playlist and driving. Maja never felt uncomfortable with silence, and that was one of Marceline’s favorite aspects of their friendship. The comfortability. The transparency. Maja never lied, never dramaticized things or gave in to much gossip, and Marceline always felt relaxedaround her. 

But Marceline had a lot on her mind. “So obviously you know what happened with Bonnibel.” 

“Obviously,” Maja acknowledged with a nod. Her eyes were still carefully focused on the road, but Marceline knew she was paying attention. 

“She’s pretty mad at me. I get it but I don’t know what to do to like, fix it, and explain to her that I’m not that person, like I’m not a cheater, you know?”

“Hm.” Maja thought about it for a moment. Her left hand came up and began tracing one of her rune tattoos absentmindedly. It was a habit, just a thing she did sometimes when she was really contemplating something. “I think she’s being a little harsh on you. She’s new, so she doesn’t know Ash personally like the rest of us do, and she doesn’t even really know _you_ personally like the rest of us do. She made a snap judgment, and she just needs some time to realize she was wrong.”

“You think she really will?”

Maja shrugged. “I don’t know. If she doesn’t, that’s not your problem. You’re just trying to be happy. But she has to eventually, because you have all the same friends. It’s going to be an awkward three years if she plans to ignore you forever, and who wants to deal with that?”

Marceline could only hope she was right. 

“Do you really like her that much, dude?” Maja asked after a few moments. 

“She’s pretty cool,” Marceline said defensively, feeling a blush rise. ”And you can’t tell me she’s not super hot.”

“I guess that’s true,” Maja agreed with a laugh, which made Marceline uncomfortable for a reason she couldn’t quite place. She chose to ignore it. Probably nothing. “Anyways, in the meantime you should try some guided meditation to help with your stress. Just focus on what’s within your control, which is only ever yourself.” 

“Does that stuff actually work?” 

Maja smiled. “Always does for me.” 

“Alright, fine, I’ll give it a try you little hippie,” Marceline agreed with a laugh. 

**. . .**

“You can’t keep ignoring her forever, you know,” said Lady in a seemingly conversational and nonchalant tone from the other end of Bonnibel’s couch. It was a nice afternoon, they were playing a game of cards, Bonnie had just made fresh coffee, and they were considering going for a hike later in the day, and she just wasn’t sure why Lady had to ruin the pleasant atmosphere by bringing _that situation_ up. 

“I disagree,” Bonnibel said neutrally, laying down another run of cards on the cushion between them. Rummy was fun enough, at least to pass the time. More importantly, she absolutely _could_ ignore Marceline forever if she wanted to, and right now it was a strong possibility. 

Marceline hadn’t really understood why Bonnibel was so upset, which only made her more upset, because it was very simple. Very very simple. Marceline had kissed her, knowing she was still technically dating her boyfriend, not realizing that Bonnie was not quite aware of that fact. 

It made her feel twisted-up and nauseated. It made her feel like a secret, or a game, or some kind of dumb experiment, _and I might be a scientist but I’m not a fucking science experiment._

“She broke up with him for you.” 

“She didn’t break up with him for me at _all,_ actually, she broke up with him because of the pictures of him making out with another girl. I was just a fun way to hurt him back, and sorry, Lady, but that’s not really my vibe.” 

Lady looked at her with pursed lips for a moment before deciding to respond. “I don’t think that was her intention. I think she just realized she had a connection with you and didn’t think it would matter since she already considered her relationship over. Not to mention, as she expressed numerous times, she didn’t know that you thought they were already broken up. She wasn’t trying to trick you.” 

“It doesn’t matter if she was trying to trick me or not,” Bonnibel said, pinching her nose and trying not to get frustrated. This was around the sixth or seventh time she’d had this conversation with one of her friends over the last few weeks. Six times in about three weeks was _twice a week_ , and as someone unused to having so many close and nosy friends, Bonnie found the repeated questioning of her decisions to be incredibly annoying. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Bonnibel repeated quietly, “because it makes me feel used, and beyond that, I’m not interested in associating myself with anyone who thinks infidelity is okay under any circumstance. If you can justify cheating under one particular condition, you can justify cheating under _any_ condition. She should have just broken up with him.”

Lady sighed. “I guess that makes sense, but I think you’re overreacting. I’ve known Marceline for a long time, and I’ve also known Ash for a long time, and I don’t think it’s fair to make a permanent judgment about her character based on that relationship. He’s an asshole.” 

Bonnibel shrugged. “Then she should’ve broken up with him, right? Or not even dated him. Either way, that doesn’t make it okay to stay in a relationship knowing you’re about to end it and then make out with someone else that night. I’d hate it if she did that to _me.”_

“Then I’m assuming you wouldn’t cheat on her in the first place, right? Therefore you’d never put her in that situation to begin with?”

“No, and maybe you’re right and this is just circumstantial but it’s just not worth the risk, dude. I hope you understand that.” 

A long pause. Lady took a slow sip of coffee, mulling it over. “Yeah, Bonnie. I understand. But I hope you’ll forgive me for holding out hope that you give her a chance anyway. I’d hate it if you missed out on someone that could make you happy because you wouldn’t give her a chance.” 

_Dammit._ Lady had a point. They were just kids, after all, and it had been Marceline’s first ever relationship, and it had only technically lasted for a few weeks anyway, and he _had_ made out with some other girl, and Marceline was hurting and confused. And that kiss had been pretty good, honestly. 

Bonnibel took a deep breath, trying to push out her anxiety on the exhale. Sometimes it worked. 

“I’m not promising anything more than this, but I’ll try to be friendly.” 

Lady was wearing a triumphant smile. “That’s good enough for now. Anyways, are you ready to go for that hike?”

“Absolutely,” Bonnibel agreed immediately, desperate to talk about literally anything other than Marceline. 

. . . 

It was a normal day at the local ice cream shop. Patience and Jake had opened that morning and would be getting off at 4pm. It was only noon, and they hadn’t been very busy at all, causing the minutes to crawl. 

“So what’s your girlfriend up to today?” Patience asked as they stood in the well-air-conditioned shop. She was leaning against one of the solid blue counters, sunglasses perched on her nose as always, hair in two identical buns, wearing the royal blue t-shirt that her job required and a pair of leggings. 

Jake, for his part, was leaning against the wall, head resting on it in a clear show of fatigue, arms crossed over his chest. Patience couldn’t blame him; while she had always been an early riser, Jake, like most teenagers, was much the opposite and hated working the opening shift. He barely even lifted his head up to respond to her. 

“I think she’s at Bonnie’s. Lady said something yesterday about wanting to go on a hike, so she’ll probably rope B-bell into it.” Jake let out a tired chuckle. “Better her than me.” 

“I’d have to agree. Hiking the nature trails sounds like a nightmare in today’s humidity.” 

“Yeah. So what’s _your_ girlfriend doing today?” The sandy-haired boy had a mischievous look in his eyes now. 

Patience rolled her eyes. She knew he couldn’t see her doing it behind the sunglasses, but she hoped he got the impression anyway from her frown. “I don’t have the slightest clue who you’re talking about.”

Now it was Jake’s turn to roll his eyes. “Uh-huh, sure. Save it for someone who doesn’t know better.” 

A pause as two wills silently clashed. Finally, Jake gave in, letting out a dramatic sigh as he did so. “Fine. What’s _Phoebe_ doing today?” 

“Phoebe has martial arts today from 3:30 to 5, and then we’re going to the movies.” 

“Seeing anything interesting?”

“Probably not. It’s Phoebe’s turn to pick and she always goes for the weird ones.” 

“Yeah, she sure does,” Jake muttered under his breath. If Patience weren’t so invested in keeping her feelings private, she might have laughed at that and given herself away. But she was, so she simply pretended not to hear him. 

It was a good act. So good she could almost fool herself too. Deep down, she knew her friends were right. But Patience had been told her entire life that she was too intense, too assertive, too intimidating, too domineering, too _controlling._ So, no matter how much she might privately agree with her friends, she remained adamant that she wouldn’t say anything or make any move until Phoebe did. 

But God, why couldn’t Phoebe just get on with it already? She could only wait so much longer. 

After a few more minutes with zero business, Patience did something very rare. (It seemed that had been happening quite a lot recently, but it had been an unusual summer so far, after all.)

“Jake, please don’t make a joke out of what I’m about to say.” She needed the disclaimer, because Jake had a habit of trying to lighten the mood when conversations got too serious. 

He squinted at her from the other end of the counter. “Sure, Patience. What’s on your mind?” He sounded like he already knew, though. It was his own damn fault for being so nosy in the first place. 

“I have feelings for Phoebe.” 

“This isn’t meant to be a joke, but I was aware of that fact. Or, well, I guess not entirely? More like, I knew she had feelings for _you,_ and I kind of figured you noticed because y’know, you’re not blind and you’re not stupid, and you still spend damn near more time with Phoebe than I do with Lady, so like I figured it was probably mutual on some level.” He lowered his eyebrows and raised a finger at her. “But you’re a hard one to read, St. Pim, so I was never _sure,_ up until Finn’s birthday when you accidentally admitted it to us by telling us you and Phoebe cuddle on the reg _._ ” 

Patience snorted. “Yeah, well, congrats, you were correct. All of you losers were correct.” 

“So, are you guys like secretly dating or something?”

She openly laughed at that one. “Are you kidding me? Do I look like the type of person who would secretly date anyone? I don’t lie about anything.” 

“You lied about having feelings for her.”

“You know, you never actually asked me.”

“There’s no way that’s true, I’ve definitely asked you if you were into her before.” 

Patience shook her head, smiling. “No, not technically. You’ve implied that I do, and you have frequently implied that Phoebe has a thing for me, and I always just say I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well _technically_ that’s still a lie, Miss Technicality, since you’re admitting now that you _did_ know what I was talking about.” 

“Yeah, I guess you got me there.” 

They both began laughing. Somehow, she felt much lighter than she thought she would after one of her friends knew about this. 

“So,” he said after a moment, his face growing serious, “If you have feelings for her why aren’t you dating yet? Considering you clearly know how she feels about _you,_ and Phoebe doesn’t seem to have the slightest clue how _you_ feel.” 

“Basically, I just feel like she doesn’t really have a lot of self-confidence and I’m concerned that she might become codependent. Part of that is because, as we all know, I can be very assertive, you might even say controlling, and I don’t want to have that kind of relationship with her until she’s like, confident in herself enough to be independent and not just like, go with everything I say and not enforce any boundaries for herself. Does that make any sense?”

Jake thought it over for a minute. “Yeah, honestly. At first I thought it kind of sounded like a cop-out, but I see what you mean. It’s like, you’re bold and confident and you know who you are and what you want, and you’re scared that if _she_ isn’t bold and confident and knows what she wants, that she might never bother to find out what she wants because she’ll just let you take the lead in everything. And that’s not a balanced relationship. So you’re saying Phoebe needs to do a little growing first, is that right?” 

“Kind of. I like her very much as she is now, and I think it’s kind of cute and romantic how clear her interest in me is, but it’s like she holds herself back around me sometimes, and to be really honest with you man, the only thing I want is for her to trust me enough and also care for herself enough to like, tell me how she feels. If Phoebe ever looked at me and said ‘Hey Patience, I’ve had feelings for you for months, wanna go on a date?’ I would say yes immediately. I just need her to be ready to say it, you know?”

“Okay, you’re losing me a little here,” he warned her as he made himself a vanilla cone. “So, you’re unwilling to tell her how you feel, because she’s unwilling to tell you how she feels, even though she kind of does tell you how she feels constantly? Like it makes sense but it doesn’t. It sounds like maybe your pride is talking here.” 

“What do you mean she tells me how she feels constantly?”

“Well, I mean, it’s obvious. She knows it’s obvious, even though she really does try to make it less so. But we all know about it, so it clearly doesn’t work. Don’t you think that’s already pretty brave of her, to know that you probably can see right through her and to spend time with you anyways, knowing she might be making a fool out of herself in front of you and all of your mutual friends. Like, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we rag on her _relentlessly_ about you. And she just deals with all of this because she cares about you.” 

“For the most part, I think you have a point,” she admitted after a second or two. “It’s really obvious to everyone how she feels, and it’s not obvious to anyone how I feel.” 

“Exactly. So in my humble opinion, I think you should do the gentlewomanly thing and open up to her about your feelings.”

“Dammit. I guess you’re right.” Something dawned on her then, her mouth making a little ‘O’ before smiling. “Well, her birthday’s coming up in a few weeks. That would be a good time, right?”

Jake sighed dramatically, as though explaining something to a child. “Yes, Patience, that would probably be the _perfect_ time, and I cannot believe it took you so long to think about this. You know, she’s had a lot of anxiety about you, so you’d better make it up to her with some huge romantic gesture that’ll just blow her out of the water.”

“Since when are you such a girl?”

Jake snorted. “Don’t deflect, St. Pim, it doesn’t suit you.” Then, something seemed to dawn on him. “Hey, so how long have you had these feelings for her?”

“A few months.” 

His eyes narrowed at that. ‘You’re lying to me.” 

“How the hell would you even know that?”

“I don’t know how I know, but I know. Just a feeling, like you answered too quick and it just sounded like it wasn’t true.”

She sighed, knowing what was to follow her answer. “Fine. You’re right, I’m lying. It’s been about three years now.” 

Jake dropped the ice cream cone he’d made himself, the vanilla ice cream spilling across the floor between the two friends. “Patience, you’re only sixteen. Three years would mean that you’ve had feelings for Phoebe since like eighth grade. That’s _middle school,_ dude. You’ve had feelings for her for that long? Like, this whole damn time basically?” 

Patience bit her lip and nodded, saying nothing else, simply waiting for the full extent of what that meant to hit him. “Wait. Wait wait wait. That means you had feelings for Phoebe when she was dating Finn. And you didn’t say or do anything about it ever?” 

“What could I have said, man? We were kids. I didn’t even know if she liked girls at the time, in fact I was pretty sure she didn’t back then, and it would’ve been so weird of me to just drop that on her at the time.” 

Jake thought for a while about that, and about this new revelation, before speaking again. “Well, okay, now that I know this information, I kind of understand what you were saying earlier a lot more. Like, you’ve been in love with her for years, and she’s had a little crush on you for like six months, and so you’ve really just been waiting to make sure she feels it as deeply as you do.” 

“I think you might’ve cracked the case,” she said with a sad smile. 

“Huh. Well, I can’t blame you, I guess. That’s heavy stuff. I still think you should just be honest with her, though. It might make everything a lot easier. And I’m still in favor of you telling her on her birthday.” 

“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s probably time. Besides, my patience is starting to run out. I was probably going to tell her soon anyway.” 

“Patience running out of patience? Who would’ve thought?”

“Shut up, Martins. You’re not as funny as you think you are.”

. . . 

By the time Patience pulled into the parking lot of the dojo Phoebe practiced at, the other girl had already finished up and changed into the clothes she was wearing for the night, a pair of dark blue jean shorts and a white crop top to match her clean white sneakers. As always, she looked good, though Patience felt a little sick with herself if she let her thoughts or eyes linger. It felt a little inappropriate, considering they weren’t actually dating, regardless of who might have feelings for who. 

Phoebe got into her car with a bright smile, tossing her gym bag in the back as she did so. “Hey, Patience. How was work?” 

Patience smiled at her as she whipped out of the parking lot and back onto the road. “It was good, I worked with Jake from open to four, which was pretty much dead as you’d expect. We got a few little bursts but nothing crazy. So, did you want to get dinner before the movie, or after?” Her eyes flicked from the road to Phoebe as she waited for a response. 

“Uh, have you eaten today?”

“Yeah, I had some lunch at work.” It was kind of true, she’d had a protein bar a few hours prior on her break. 

“After, then, I’m not really hungry yet. If that’s okay with you.” 

“For sure. So how was practice?” 

Phoebe smiled. “Super fun, we did some sparring today and I basically had this guy on the ground in seconds.” 

“That’s my girl. Flattening the competition.” 

Phoebe laughed lightly, a soft blush coloring her face.

“He wasn’t any match for me.” She wasn’t trying to brag or anything, it was a quiet statement, and it was probably true. Despite being one of the kindest people in town, Phoebe wasn’t very aggressive or prone to fighting, but she _was_ very good at martial arts. 

“I’m sure he wasn’t.” 

As usual, Phoebe picked a movie Patience had yet to even hear of, but she didn’t protest, simply following the redhead into the theater with a slight smile and a shake of her head, saying absolutely nothing when Phoebe grabbed her hand, because it wasn’t out of the ordinary, and even though she didn’t always show it, she liked the girl’s attention. 

It was hard, as Phoebe pulled her into a seat near the back, not to confess then and there. It was always hard not to confess, but she was acutely aware of the smell of Phoebe’s floral and how soft her hand was, and how hard her own heart was beating, and it was nearly impossible to not lean over and kiss her then and there. 

But she didn’t. She took a deep breath, switching her sunglasses to the 3D ones required for the movie, using it as an excuse to break the contact and relax. She was overthinking, and focusing too much on her stupid hormones, and she needed to just _chill_ before Phoebe caught on to her strange behavior and took it personally by mistake. Then she’d have to explain the real reason she was acting weird, and that would be less than ideal, and would ruin the surprise she had already begun planning for Phoebe’s birthday. 

_Just keep it together until her birthday, St. Pim. You can do that. You’ve kept quiet about this for years, with the exception of telling Jake today. What’s a couple more weeks?_

So she kept it together, nearly holding her breath when Phoebe leaned her head on her shoulder halfway through the film. It had been hard, pretending like she hadn’t had these feelings for so long, but she had the best poker face on earth. Not to mention, the ever-present sunglasses, which helped immensely in concealing how she felt. Two more weeks would be easy, she told herself. August first would be here in the blink of an eye. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again! So, just to be clear, the characters are kind of dumbasses at this point in the story, and I don't recommend being so stubborn and secretive about your feelings for so long (like Patience does) nor do I think Bonnie's entirely right (or wrong) about this situation with Marceline (for the record, I think they're both right in their own way). As always, thanks for reading, (I'd love to hear what you thought!) and I'll see you next time!


	7. Death and the Hierophant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This one's where the Bubbline ball really starts rolling, but there's a few other important things going on too. Also, there's another AVPM reference in this chap, so keep your eyes peeled. This chapter isn't the best because I wrote it pretty quickly, but also I couldn't stop writing this chapter, so. Here we are. 
> 
> *there are a couple of metaphysical/philosophical discussions. None of the characters reflect or represent my personal views, but they do express views that line up with their characterization within this story, for the purposes of this story.

_You're holding your drink like it's killing you slowly_

_Holding a smile like I don't know the story_

_Go if you want to be lovesick and lonely_

_I'll be waiting on you, come on and tell me the truth._

Follow me - Transit

**July 25th**

It was a nice night, Bonnibel had to admit. They were in Ella’s backyard sitting in the soft light of dusk sharing a couple of blunts. Right now, ‘they’ included Ella, Bonnie, Jake, Lady, Maja, and Patience. Finn and Hunter had gone to the drive-in theater for what they assured everyone was absolutely _not_ a date of any kind, Phoebe’s brother had a soccer game she had to attend for moral support, Keila was almost a lost cause by this point, and Marceline hadn’t shown up at a party or get-together since the . . . incident. 

Bonnibel felt a stab of guilt about that. Yeah, Marceline had been in the wrong, but these were also all her friends, and Marceline didn’t even spend time with anyone other than Patience and Maja anymore, as far as Bonnibel had heard. 

Which sucked, because she’d honestly liked her, and now she wasn’t really sure how to reach out and smooth things over. Part of her stubborn mind insisted that it wasn’t _her_ responsibility to smooth things over, but the more considerate part of her mind told it to shut up. It just didn’t quite sit right with her, how things were, and she knew she needed to talk to the other girl soon. 

She just didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t inclined to apologize, but she didn’t want to drag this out any longer. It was unnecessary stress, not only for herself and Marceline but also for their group of mutual friends who had to deal with the awkwardness as well. 

From her left, Lady passed her the blunt. She took a long hit, slowly letting smoke fill her lungs before breathing it all out in a lavender-gray cloud towards the stars. It _was_ a nice night. Ohio was incredibly humid during the summer heat, but the summer nights were cool and comfortable. 

“So, what are we gonna do for Phoebe’s birthday you guys?” Ella asked a moment later. Bonnie took another hit and passed her the blunt as Lady began explaining her plan. 

“Well, I was thinking we could have the party at Bonnie’s,” Lady proposed. “Lolly won’t mind, and since your parents will be home, it’s probably our best option. I’ll order the cake tomorrow, and we can just have a little surprise party.” 

“Bonnibel? Are you on board with this?” Ella asked with a grin, expecting her to say no, but Bonnie shrugged. 

“Yeah, I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?.” 

“Huh. Okay, Banner. Things might get a little cray tho,” was Ella’s taunting response. 

Bonnibel was just about to reply with some witty comment of her own when Patience interjected. 

“So what kind of food are we getting for the party? I’m kind of tired of eating nothing but pizza, do you guys wanna get Mexican?” Patience looked around expectantly as she asked the question. 

“That sounds ideal, actually,” was Jake’s response from the tall girl’s right side. “Plus, Phoebe loves spicy food. Good thinking, St. Pim.” 

“What can I say, I’m a genius,” was her dry response. 

“So, the Banner house, party games, some food, some cake, a little booze, a little weed, sound like a plan to everyone?” Lady asked, to recap. 

“Yeah, that sounds perfect Lady,” Maja agreed as the others nodded or hummed their assent. And thus, a plan was made. Of course, unbeknownst to Bonnie and most of the others, Patience was working on a plan of her own, but more on that later. 

For now, Bonnibel was engaging in a friendly debate with Maja Wainwright on the existence of ghosts. 

“Ghosts are _not_ real,” was her flat statement after Maja had told a brief ghost story about an old prison in Ohio. Maja smiled as if she wanted to laugh but would not, and the others casted a side-eye her way. Bonnibel was more of a see-and-touch kind of person. It was hard for her to believe in something that was intangible. 

“Well, why not?” 

Bonnie furrowed her brows, thinking this was a stupid question. “Because you can’t prove that they _are._ The burden of proof is on the people claiming these things exist, it’s not my responsibility to prove that something doesn’t exist when you can’t even prove that it _does_ exist.” 

“No, I’m serious dude,” was Maja’s earnest reply. She was a few seats over, looking at Bonnibel with dark eyes glimmering. “For one thing, there are definitely scientific proofs for the existence of spirits, often referred to as ghosts, but beyond that, think about it this way: Why is it so hard to fathom that something you can’t see or fully understand might exist? It’s hard because we’re _conditioned_ that way in Western society, we’re conditioned to treat everything spiritual like it’s a joke, right?”

“Oooh, girl, Maja’s takin’ you to _school_ tonight,” Ella commented with a laugh. “Hope you’re takin’ _notes.”_

Bonnibel rolled her eyes at Ella before responding to Maja. “Okay, I kind of see your point but I think the reason we’re conditioned to take these things as a joke is because they’re not real. So like, is that really a bad thing?” 

“She doesn’t get it yet,” Jake said with a dramatic shake of his head in mock-disappointment. “Look, B-bell, I know you’re a science type of person, so you need to see it to believe it. You wanna break things down to the molecular level or whatever, and because you can’t do that with like, ghosts or spirits or stuff like that, you kind of just throw the concept out the window. What Maja’s trying to get you to realize is that if you actually break down _why_ you just throw these things out of the window, you might realize you’re not as sure as you think you are.” 

“Yeah, basically,” Maja agreed with a thoughtful nod. “Essentially, Bonnibel, I’m just encouraging you to consider these things with an open mind. There’s a lot out there to find out about, you know? There’s a lot we don’t know for sure, a lot we can never know for sure, and admitting that is a necessary part of the human experience. And once you accept that we can never fully _know_ very much _,_ you open up to the possibility of being wrong. And once being wrong about things doesn’t scare you anymore, you can explore life without moving from a place of fear.” 

Bonnie let out a low whistle. “That’s some deep stuff. But I don’t think I operate from a place of fear, you know? I just don’t see the point in getting caught up in things you can’t see. Gotta focus on what’s real.” 

Maja offered a shrug and an easy smile. She really was roguishly attractive with her tawny skin, twisting smile, and sharp features. “Maybe you’re right. You have to live your life according to what feels true and right to _you_ , but it doesn’t hurt to question the things you think you know and believe. Actually, it’s the only way to really understand yourself and be authentic to you.” 

“Oh my _god_ you guys, Melissa just texted me that the senior officers just announced that homecoming is in _September._ September 24th. I need to get a dress like, yesterday. When are we going shopping?” 

“I’m off next Monday if you want to go look at the mall,” Lady offered. “I’m sure Hunter and Phoebe will come. Bonnie? You in?”

“Of course she is, she needs a dress,” was Ella’s immediate reply. 

“Who said I’m going to homecoming?” Bonnibel questioned. 

“I did,” Ella said firmly in a no-nonsense tone. “You have to go. If you hate it and you never wanna go again then fine, but you’re giving it a chance.” 

“I already went to homecoming freshman year in San Diego, and I hated it. Doesn’t that count?” 

“No, it absolutely does _not_ count, you were a dumb freshman and you didn’t have _us_ in your life.”

“Fine.”

“I knew you’d come around. I’ll pick you up at noon on Monday for dress shopping.” 

A few hours later, it was around 10pm, and Bonnie was sitting on the patio with Maja, having a detailed discussion on exactly what ‘energy’ was and how it affected them. As you can imagine, a scientist and a mystic have very different meanings when they discuss energy, and Maja was attempting to explain the theory of the Law of Attraction to her. Which did make sense to Bonnie, from a scientific perspective. _Like attracts like._

“Opposites attract is the biggest lie we’ve ever been told,” Maja said as she lit a joint. “We really attract things and people that are on the same frequency as ourselves. When you put out good intentions and optimism, you get good things in return. The universe doesn’t really operate on any sense of morality, but it does operate on a sense of justice. Sometimes it’s hard to see that from a human perspective, because the universe plays the long game more often than not.” 

“Huh. So when bad things happen to you, it’s not always because you’re a bad person or something, but you might still be putting out negativity and accidentally bringing it down on your life?” 

“Kind of, although obviously we can’t control what other people do and how that might affect us in the physical world. The trick is, you gotta detach from the idea of ‘good’ or ‘bad’. It’s part of what traps you in your mind compartments. Things aren’t inherently good or bad and neither are people. There’s only the impact they have, and our own assessment of whether that is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, which is usually based on how it impacts us directly. So all of our judgments are biased.” 

“So like, things are what we make of them? It sounds like that’s kind of what you’re getting at.” 

“Yeah. Like, nothing is really good or bad because things just are what they are. Good and bad are opinions, not qualities that you can actually measure like someone’s IQ or the density of a metal or something.” 

“So are we talking about things, or are we talking about people?” Bonnibel was a little confused. 

“We’re talking about _everything_ , dude,” was the ambiguous response. “In a cosmic sense, it’s all the same. We’re all part of the energetic field, you know? There’s no difference between you and the world around you.”

“I think I get it, but I also think you might be batshit crazy,” was Bonnie’s simple response, which immediately earned a genuine full laugh from the other girl. 

“Yeah, no doubt,” Maja agreed, “But like, that’s the point.” 

“Yeah,” Bonnibel nodded her head. “I think I’m starting to see that.” 

Suddenly, the patio door opened, and Lady stepped outside. “Hey guys, Jake’s about ready to head out, are we driving you home Bonnie?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be ready in just a sec,” Bonnie confirmed, and Lady nodded, slipping back inside where the others were finishing off a few beers. She turned to Maja to say goodbye. 

“So, I hate to cut this conversation short, but it looks like that’s my ride, so I’ll see you later?”

Maja smiled at her. A few long tendrils of hair had fallen out of her signature topknot, framing her face in the low yellow patio light. Something about her was just so magnetic, Bonnibel couldn’t help but smile back as the girl responded. 

“Yeah, let me give you my number, maybe we can hang out.” Bonnie offered Maja her phone, and the other girl quickly put in her contact information. Just before Bonnie could slip back into the house to leave, Maja stopped her. 

“Oh, and by the way, don’t ever call or text me before noon. I spend my mornings alone and will ignore you if you do, so you might as well not.” 

Bonnibel smiled a little. These people were so strange and yet so endlessly interesting. Her curiosity was never forced to rest. “Okay, no problem dude.” 

Maja nodded, and Bonnibel hurried out the front door to where Jake and Lady were waiting in the car, still thinking about their conversation. 

_Everything is connected._ There was a lot to think about there, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized Maja might have a few points. There was definitely a lot that was unknown about the universe, and she guessed that _did_ leave room for a lot of possibilities. Maybe ghosts were real, and maybe everything really _did_ just come down to energy. 

It was interesting to think about, but by the time she made it home she still wasn’t sure exactly what to make of it all. 

She wasn’t left to her thoughts for very long, because her phone began ringing shortly after she’d changed into pajamas. It was her mother. Damn. She was still high, and quite tired, and she wasn’t in the best state to talk, but it had been almost a week since she’d last talked to her mom. 

Plus, there was always the chance it could be about Ned. With a deep breath, she answered the call on what was probably the last ring. 

“Hi, Mom. How’s it going?”

_“Hey, sweetie, everything’s okay over here. Ned’s been doing much better here in Singapore. The facilities are excellent.”_

“That’s great to hear, Mom. Is he happy?” 

Her mother paused, and she knew she was probably chewing on her lip, debating how much to reveal to her daughter.

_“Yeah, Bon. I think he is. As happy as he can be. You know how it is.”_

Yeah, she knew exactly how it was, and it wasn’t great. “That’s good, at least.” 

_“Yeah. How’s Lolly doing?”_

“She’s okay, as far as I can tell. She doesn’t seem to be visibly depressed.” 

_“That doesn’t mean she’s okay, Bonnie. Make sure you spend some time with her, you know that in a few weeks -”_

“I know, Mom. I’m spending time with her. It’ll be okay.” Bonnibel took a deep breath. “Look, it’s getting late here, can I call you back tomorrow?”

_“Oh. Yeah, honey, that’s fine. I love you.”_

“I love you too, Mom. Goodnight.”

When the line went silent, Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief. She loved her parents dearly, and missed them, but conversations with them tended to be stressful and heavy these days. It was easier to try not to focus on what was going on with her family, and put her mind towards the present moment. And the present moment demanded sleep. 

. . . 

**July 26th**

“Okay, dude, we gotta do something about Bonnie and Marcy,” Finn said as he threw an old football across the room. Finn and Jake each had their own bunk bed with a desk on the bottom, and they were each on their bunks, throwing the ball back and forth over their morning conversation. The room had been painted baby blue and light gray many years prior. Fionna, naturally, had gotten her own room, but Finn had never minded sharing. Of course, Fionna technically had moved out when she’d gone to college a couple of years prior, but since she still came home for holidays (and sometimes the summers, although clearly not this one), she got to keep her room at the house. 

“I mean, I don’t know man,” Jake said, thinking it over as he tossed the football back. “I know they’re our friends, but I don’t know if Bonnie’s gonna react well to any more pushing about this. We’ve all already talked to her about it.”

“Yeah, but like, I don’t want this to continue when school starts. It kind of sucks that we haven’t really seen Marcy in like a month. What if she decides she just doesn’t wanna hang out with _any_ of us now? Permanently?” 

“Marceline _probably_ will not do that,” his brother assured him. “And even if she does, if Marshall and Fionna get married, she’ll be stuck with us for life anyway.” 

Finn laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Still, I wish we could get Marceline and Bonnie to resolve things.” 

“Well, it’s not really a matter of getting Marceline to resolve things. Marceline already wants to, right? She kept trying to text and call Bonnie right after she broke up with Ash. B-bell’s the one who won’t talk.” 

“So we just need to get Bonnibel to forgive her?” Finn sounded optimistic. 

“Yeah, but we’ve already tried that, remember? She won’t budge. So that just leaves us back at square one.” 

“Oh. Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, look, let’s just give it another shot. There has to be a new way to approach the subject. A way that won’t make her get all defensive and mad.” 

“A new approach could work,” Jake admitted. “It has to be good, though, because after this I’m just gonna leave her alone about this. Last chance to make our case.”

“Or to make Marceline’s case,” Finn pointed out, but Jake quickly shook his head. 

“Nah, man, that’s the thing. We’ve _made_ Marceline’s case to her already. Clearly it isn’t strong enough. If you really wanna get her to budge, we have to make it about more than just Marceline. Maybe if we ask her to do it for _us,_ she’ll consider it.” 

“Huh. You know, that just might work!” Finn scrambled down the ladder instantly, throwing on a change of clothes. “Come on, let’s go see Bonnie!”

Jake had no choice but to follow. 

. . . 

Bonnibel had woken up around 9am, heading to her little kitchen to make some coffee, yawning and stretching as she went. Golden light illuminated the basement from the small windows, and it was a pleasant morning. 

She didn’t know, of course, that across the street, two brothers had just woken up and were hatching a plan, and would be bounding down the stairs in just a few minutes. 

For now, she was thinking about Marceline again. She hadn’t made any progress on thinking of what to say to the other girl, or how to go about starting a conversation, and she certainly hadn’t mentioned this intention to any of her friends yet. She knew it would give them too much satisfaction. 

Just as she was rinsing out her coffee cup, considering working on some experiments with glucose in the lab, the door at the top of the stairs flung open, Finn coming down the stairs two at a time as Jake followed him at a slower pace. 

“Morning, Bonnie!” Finn said brightly, offering her a smile full of perfect white teeth. “Got any plans?” 

“Good morning, boys. No, I was just gonna hang out in the lab for a while and go from there, I guess, although clearly you two had something else in mind. What’s up?” 

“We had nothing to do today, we figured we would come see if you wanted to go skate at the mill or something today.”

“Sure, Finn, that sounds fun, just let me throw some shoes on and we can go.”

“Well, whatever we’re doing, we’re getting breakfast _first,_ got it goons?” Jake asserted. 

“Sounds good to me!” Bonnie called as she headed into her room to find a pair of sneakers and grab her skateboard. The first pair she found was an old maroon pair of Vans, and she slipped into them before sparing a second to check her appearance. She was still a little disheveled, having only woken up about fifteen minutes prior, but she figured it didn’t really matter. She threw her hair into a ponytail before grabbing her board and rejoining the boys, who had helped themselves to some of her coffee in the one minute that she’d been gone. 

“Didn’t you just say you wanted to get breakfast? Are you going to have coffee _again?”_ she asked with a hint of humor. 

Jake nodded somberly. “Without a doubt.”

Bonnibel laughed. “I think I’d get caffeine jitters.” 

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “You’re still young. It takes time to develop this kind of caffeine addiction.”

“You’re literally only one year older than me,” she pointed out. “And Finn and I are the same age, so by that logic he shouldn’t have any more coffee either.” 

“But I started drinking coffee when I was like, twelve. And so did Finn.” 

“Okay, I guess that’s fair. I didn’t start until high school. Your parents let you drink coffee that young?” 

Finn and Jake looked at each other, laughing lightly. Finn turned back to explain. “Not really. Mom’s manual says no coffee for kids, but Mom doesn’t believe in the over-enforcement of rules either so she let that one slide.” 

“Huh. Interesting.” 

“Plus, Fionna was smuggling it to us anyways,” Jake said nonchalantly. 

“Who’s Fionna?” Bonnibel asked, confusion etching her face. Immediately, both of the brothers’ jaws dropped. 

“Dude, we never told you about Fionna?” Finn’s tone was incredulous. 

“Are you messin’ with us?” Jake was suspicious, eyes narrowed. 

“No? Is this a joke? Who’s Fionna?”

“B-bell, there are literally pictures of Fionna everywhere in our house, how have you not - Oh. Come to think of it, you’ve never actually been inside the house.” The realization had finally hit Finn that in the almost two months Bonnibel had been in Maple Valley, there had never yet been a reason for her to be in the house. Joshua and Margaret were always home on the weekends and in the evenings, and they didn’t care for drinking or drug use, so the group very rarely had any social gathering at their house. 

“Yeah. So based on the context clues I’m assuming Fionna is your sister or something?” 

“Yeah. Fionna’s our older sister, she’s 21 now and she goes to college out of town.” Finn paused, blushing lightly. “Um, so you probably didn’t realize this if you didn’t know about Fionna, and it’s not like it really matters, but Fionna and I were adopted.” 

Now, Bonnibel’s jaw dropped. “You’re adopted? But you and Jake look so much alike.” 

Finn laughed. “I know, it’s pretty cool, we look related to Jake and Mom and Dad, but nah. We were adopted when I was a baby and Fionna was like five.”

“Huh. You learn something new everyday. Well, are you two ready to get breakfast?”

“Hell yeah!” was Jake’s enthusiastic response as he began climbing the stairs. “Let’s go get the car!” 

Around fifteen minutes later, Jake was pulling into an IHOP while Finn cheered and clapped. Bonnie smiled to herself. They were very fun people, the Martins brothers. They were incredibly refreshing to be around. 

After the group had placed their breakfast orders, Finn excused himself to use the restroom, prompting Jake to lean over conspiratorially to her. 

“Hey, Bonnie, serious topic for a second, I know you’re tired of hearing about it, and trust me, I’m tired of talking about it, but Finn’s really scared that Marceline’s going to shut us all out now, it’s all he can talk about.” 

“Jake, I -”

“Just hear me out.I know that Marceline was in the wrong, and your feelings about the situation are understandable. But for his sake, and also mine, could you just try and talk it out with her? I really think you’ll be surprised by how much a simple conversation can change things.”

Bonnibel sighed, deciding it would be moot to tell him she was already planning on trying to talk to Marceline. “Look, I’ll try and talk to her. But what would I say to her?”

Jake smiled, shrugging. “Psh, that part’s easy. You say, ‘Hey Marcy, I want to talk about that super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot kiss we had a few weeks ago, because I’ve finally come to my senses and realized how lucky I am that it even happened.” 

Immediately, Bonnie narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to explain just how _wrong_ that was, when Jake started laughing. 

“Look, B-bell, I’m kidding. I don’t know, just tell her you’d like to talk about what happened so you can actually deal with it and be friends.”

 _Friends. Just friends._ Was that what she wanted? Was that what _Marceline_ wanted? She hadn’t said so, but who knew? 

Naturally, Jake didn’t miss the tension on her face. “Okay, relax, friends doesn’t mean _just_ friends.”

“It’s like you can read my mind.” 

Jake laughed. “I’m a Scorpio sun _and_ rising, what can I say?”

“Oh my _god,_ not astrology too, are you kidding me?” Bonnibel groaned. 

“Of course ‘astrology too’, B-bell, weren’t you listening? Everything’s connected, girl. Everything’s real.” He barked another laugh. “Or maybe, nothing is real. It amounts to the same result.” 

“I’m definitely going to need some weed in my system before we get into the metaphysical stuff,” Bonnibel said, putting up a hand. She could already feel a migraine coming on. 

“Weed sounds like a great time!” came Finn’s quiet but cheerful interjection as he returned to the table. “We can smoke after we’re done skating.”

“That’s the best idea you’ve had all morning,” Jake responded with a smile. 

Bonnie finished her strawberry banana French toast about ten minutes after Finn and Jake had wolfed down the entirety of their plates, but to their credit, the brothers didn’t seem to mind waiting for her to finish. Maybe they already knew they ate at Herculean speeds. 

They made off for the mill, where a few clustered groups of people were already skating or loitering, including Ella with her boyfriend Brad, her friend Melissa, and a few other people. She shot them a wave and an excited “Hey, you guys! What’s up?”

Bonnie followed the boys over to where their friend was standing. Ella, of course, didn’t skate, but she liked to hang out at the mill if other people were there. She was wearing a tight pair of denim shorts, black sandals, and a lavender tank top to match the scrunchie in her yellow-blonde hair. 

After a few minutes of small talk that Bonnie wasn’t really paying any attention to, Finn challenged her to a race around the mill, and of course she wasn’t going to back down from a _challenge,_ so she hopped on her old board and took after him at a zoom, feeling that satisfying sensation of the wheels rolling under her feet and the wind embracing her as she sped along. 

Having had the advantage of surprise over her, Finn won, circling back around to the front of the old building just a few seconds before she caught up, but she’d been following him a little too closely and crashed directly into him as she was trying to stop her board, causing them both to tumble to the ground. 

“Yikes, you okay Bonnie?” Finn said with a good-natured smile as he picked himself up, dusted himself off, and offered a hand which she accepted. 

“Yeah, sorry about that Finn, I wasn’t really watching my direction.” 

“Good job, B-bell,” Jake commended her in a teasing tone, “Maybe you _knocked_ some sense into him.” 

. . . 

They were hotboxing Jake’s car in the rear parking lot of an abandoned elementary school, and Bonnibel couldn’t escape the current conversation. 

“So, Bonnie, when are you gonna give Marceline a call?” Jake asked nonchalantly from his seat as he passed the nearly-finished blunt to Finn, who looked at her with delighted surprise before turning to his brother. 

“Dude, did you already talk to her about this?’

Jake shrugged, still looking at Bonnibel, who sighed before answering Finn’s question for him. “Yeah, Finn, he mentioned Marceline to me earlier, and I agreed that it’s probably time to talk to her and resolve this . . . awkwardness, for the sake of the group.” 

Finn nodded. “Radical, Bonnie. I’m glad you came around. Why don’t you call her now?”

“ _Now?”_ she spluttered. “I - I can’t - I don’t even know what to say. And you two are here.” 

“Perfect,” Finn said, “so why don’t you call her right now and ask if she wants to talk face-to-face, then we can give you a ride to her place, then you talk and make up and we can all go get lunch, because I’m starting to get hungry again.”

“Finn, we had breakfast like two hours ago,” she pointed out. 

He shrugged. “Blame it on the munchies, or the fact that I’m a growing boy, I don’t know, but what I _do_ know is we’re getting lunch. But not until you talk to Marcy.” 

After a long pause, Bonnibel gave in, unlocking her phone with a muttered “What if she doesn’t answer?” 

“Then she doesn’t answer, but I really doubt that,” Jake said matter-of-factly, as if she were stupid for even asking. She supposed that was a fair point as she opened the goth girl’s contact and hit the call button, feeling her stomach somersault as she did so. 

After three rings, a quiet but clearly confused voice said “Hello?” 

“Hi, Marceline. Um, It’s Bonnibel, obviously.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“Look, I’ve just been thinking that maybe I’ve been . . . a little harsh with you. Do you think we could talk about things? Like, face to face.” 

“Uh, sure, Bonnie.” 

“Great, are you home now?”

“Yeah, but how are -”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Bonnibel said, but Jake quickly shook his head and pointed to the fresh blunt he had just lit. “Actually, make it twenty-five.” 

“Okay, um, I’ll see you.” The line went dead. 

“See, I told you she’d answer,” Jake said, passing the new blunt to Finn. 

“The conversation was pretty awkward though,” Bonnie pointed out, to which Jake simply shrugged. 

“Well yeah, you haven’t talked to her in a month and you really don’t know each other _that_ well to begin with. It’s obviously going to be awkward, but that’s just part of the process.”

“And what process is that?”

The older brother grinned, wagging his eyebrows. “The process of _love.”_

Bonnibel mimed gagging. “We are nowhere near love. At best, we might be acquaintances again by the end of the day, but we’re nowhere near _love.”_

“Things take time,” was his infuriating platitude of a response. 

By the time they pulled into Marceline’s winding driveway, Bonnibel was admittedly fried, but it had eased her anxiety about the impending conversation. The boys opted to stay in the car and wait, sending her up the walkway to the intimidating black Victorian by herself, leaving her to knock on the elaborately-detailed door entirely alone. 

A man answered, tall and obviously resembling Marceline, although with a far lighter skin tone and deep lines set into his face. He was wearing a black pinstripe suit and sharp black dress shoes to match. In truth, he looked like he was getting ready to leave. She realized, of course, this must be Marceline’s father, the one she’d complained about and referred to often as a ‘wad’. He looked a little menacing, but he offered her a smile that made him seem less intimidating.

“Hello, are you a friend of Marceline’s?”

“Um, yes sir, I’m Bonnibel. Banner, that is.” 

“Oh, Banner? Are you related to Lola Banner, then?”

It was so unusual to hear her aunt referred to by her full name that it gave Bonnibel a slight jolt of surprise. “Yes, I’m her niece, I’ve been staying with her recently.” 

“Huh. Never took her for the nurturing type.” He gave a short laugh. “Ah, that’s life though. I’m Hunson, Marceline’s father. Come on in, she’s upstairs, you shouldn’t have a problem finding her room. I’m just heading to the office.” He paused as he stepped out of the doorway. “You look like a nice kid, try to keep her out of trouble for me.” He smiled, but she wasn’t sure if he was joking or not as she stepped into the house and he left, taking his keys and heading into the garage, waving at the boys with a smile as he went along. 

Maybe he wasn’t that much of a wad, but Bonnibel also knew that just because Marceline’s father was nice to her friends, didn’t necessarily mean he was nice to _her._ That would be something to pay attention to and determine later, assuming this conversation went well. 

Taking a deep breath, looking at her surroundings as she finally shut the front door behind her, she realized the interior was just as gothic as the exterior, most of the walls were painted dark shades of gray, blue, or purple, and the furniture was black without exception, even including the massive staircase that led to the second floor. Clearly, Marceline’s gothic aesthetic was an inherited trait. 

Fortunately, Hunson had been right about Marceline’s room being easy to find, given that it was the only door in the upstairs hallway that was covered in punk stickers. Bonnibel approached it gingerly, knocking three times. 

When Marceline finally answered, her long lush hair had been tamed into a ponytail, leaving her bangs to frame her face, looking at Bonnibel with suspicious gray eyes. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Hi, Marceline. You’re going to have to excuse me for being a little bit high right now, but I really wanted to talk to you and the boys convinced me that there’s no time like the present.” 

Marceline smiled a little, the corner of her mouth betraying her. “Sounds like them. But look, I think you already know that I’m sorry for what happened, but if you’re just here to like remind me of that and rip me apart, then that’s not really fair.”

“I know, and I’m not here to do that. I still think that I was . . . justified in my opinion. I think if you know you’re going to end a relationship, you should do that before trying to involve yourself with anyone else. But I also realized, with the help of some friends, that you’re still a cool person and you deserve a chance. And to be fair, your ex-boyfriend was a major wad.” 

Marceline snickered. “Yeah, he sure was. Personally, I’m just glad he’s gone. So are you saying you want to be, like, friends?”

Bonnibel bit her lip, nodding. “Yeah. Plus, it would be cool if you’d start coming to parties again. Everyone misses you.”

A slight blush tinted Marceline’s cheeks. “Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean to like, shut everybody out, I just didn’t want to force you to be around me, and I knew you were gonna be at those functions.” 

“That’s very avoidant behavior.”

Marceline shrugged. What was it with Midwesterners and using shrugs as an entire language? It was a mystery to Bonnibel. “Maybe, but I was just scared of making things any worse.” 

“Well, I’m sorry I made you feel that uncomfortable around your own friends,” Bonnibel apologized quietly, eyes on the ground. 

“It’s okay, it wasn’t you,” Marceline quickly assured her. “I just like to be by myself when things are . . . weird.” 

“Yeah. I get that. Well, I was hoping maybe we could move past the weirdness. I still like you.” It was an admission that took a lot from Bonnibel, as someone who tended to avoid gooey expressions of emotion. 

Marceline was looking at her with something in her eyes that Bonnie couldn’t quite place, but it made her feel warm and a little embarrassed. 

“Yeah, Bonnie,” Marceline agreed. “I think we can do that.” 

“That’s great news, because the boys are in the car waiting and they were _really_ hoping we could all go get lunch.” 

Marceline laughed, and it sounded just like music. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, they're on speaking terms again! Now we can get to the real plot. Not to mention Phoebe's birthday is next chapter. Birthdays are obviously kind of a recurring theme in this story, but that's because I gave them all specific birthdays for a reason and also, it's always a good excuse for a party.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading, and thank you to everyone who's left kudos, comments, or bookmarked. Your support means a lot and motivates me to keep writing!


	8. The Devil and the Sun, Pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm SO SORRY this took so long. It's very short compared to my other chapters, but it was genuinely the best I could do to get myself back in the swing of this story. I don't have any intentions to abandon it, but I definitely didn't plan on taking two months for an update either. Anyways, I'm hoping to get the next one up within the next week if not sooner, since this one is unusually short.

**August 1st**

Turning sixteen was weird. 

Phoebe Coal thought she would feel older, feel the weight of all the new freedoms and responsibilities that came with another year under her belt, (not to mention the fact that she could now get her driver’s license, which came with a plethora of new freedoms of its own, and her driving exam would be the very next morning) but she felt the same as she always had when she woke up bright and early (for her, 8am was considered _very_ early) on the morning of August first. That was kind of lame. 

She woke up to just one text message. This was unsurprising, as most of her friends usually waited to give their greetings in person.

_Patience 6:22am: Happy birthday, Phoebe. I’m picking you up at noon._

_Phoebe 8:11am: thank you! i’ll be ready._

_Patience 8:14am: Good._

Phoebe tried to wipe the stupid smile off her face before she left her room. The last thing she needed was any questioning from her dad about where her good mood had stemmed from. Then again, it was normal to be cheerful on your birthday. 

Luckily, her father seemed to have already left for work by the time she woke up, and both her older and younger brother were asleep if the silence in the house was any indicator. Relieved, she decided to shower, letting the burning-hot water ease the tension in her neck and shoulders before drying off and beginning her skincare, which was really just a cleanser, toner, and moisturizer, but it definitely helped minimize her breakouts, which had been frequent before she’d started using these things. 

Now, back in her room, she had an important decision: What to wear? As she rifled through her closet, her mind found its way back to Patience. Her feelings towards the other girl were only getting stronger with time, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it forever. In fact, Phoebe had absolutely _no_ clue how she had managed to hide for even this long, given all the poorly-timed jokes her friends made within earshot of the taller girl.

So that left Phoebe with a predicament. Tell Patience, or wait for Patience to figure it out. Which would probably be soon. Something in Phoebe resented the idea of hiding from her feelings, of hiding from the truth, and mocked her for having done so. 

_Coward._ Problem was, the voice was right. She was in fact a coward, and the idea that Patience might realize that soon was even more chilling than the fear of rejection. 

_You have to tell her. This has gone on long enough._

Her stomach was twisting, but she knew it was the truth. It was time to stop obsessing over how Patience might react. There was nothing Phoebe could do to control that. She _could,_ however, control her own actions, and it was time to take the action of being honest.. 

She resolved then and there that she would tell Patience how she felt that same day, whenever they were done with the birthday festivities. She knew that she was still procrastinating, but if Patience _did_ react badly, Phoebe wanted to at least enjoy her birthday first, and who could blame her? You only get to turn sixteen once. She wanted to make the most of it, and she was fairly certain her friends were planning some kind of ‘surprise party’, since they could never pass up a good excuse to get drunk and high. Best not to ruin it with what would probably result in the messy end of a friendship-turned-one-sided-romance. 

In the present moment, she still had to decide what to wear. It was almost 9:30 now, so she still had some time before Patience would be at the door, which was good. It was supposed to be extremely hot and humid that day, so she eventually settled on a maroon blouse intended for the summer made of flowing chiffon. She paired it with black denim shorts and a pair of black canvas shoes before quickly applying some eyeliner and gloss. 

When Patience finally arrived, Phoebe dashed out of the door after a brief “Happy birthday, Pheebs!” from her younger brother, Randy, being that her older brother Flint was still sound asleep. 

Patience was waiting, leaning on the hood of her jet-black car, and as usual she looked like a god. Today, her hair was in an unusual style; Patience had opted to leave her black hair free to trail in a smooth wave down far past her shoulders. She had on a simple outfit, a pair of mom jeans that accentuated her tall, slender frame, and a black baby-tee. Her circular sunglasses were in place, and she was sporting her favorite shade of cherry-red lipstick. She smiled at Phoebe, the red splitting open to reveal her pristine teeth. 

“Hey there, birthday girl.” 

_Holy fucking hell._

“Hey, Patience. So, what’s on the agenda for today? I’m assuming our friends have planned a party that I’m supposed to know nothing about.” 

“Naturally, but you didn’t hear it from me.” 

Phoebe giggled at that as they got into the car and pulled back into the street. “And where is this year’s extravaganza being held?” 

Patience snorted. “We won’t have an extravaganza on our hands until October, Pheebs.” She was, of course, referencing Ella’s birthday party, which was without exception always the biggest party of the year. “Your party, however, is confidential information. You won’t know you're there until you’re there, and we do have a few other things to do first.” 

“Such as?”

“You’re so nosy on your birthday,” Patience said with faux-annoyance. “First of all, we’re going to get weed.” 

Phoebe couldn’t help the smile that seemed to have glued to her face within the last few minutes. What could she say? It was her birthday, and she was with Patience, and they were on their way to buy what would likely be a copious amount of weed. Everything was ideal. 

Until she remembered the commitment she’d made to herself that morning, and anxiety started to trickle in, instantly dampening her mood. Luckily, Patience was softly singing along to the song on the radio and didn’t seem to notice the change in demeanor. She had no clue what she was going to say to the other girl. She tried out a few things in her mind, but nothing sounded right. Nothing sounded good enough, really, and that was an issue. But then again, she had the rest of the day to think about it, so she tried not to worry. 

Patience pulled into the same apartment complex on the other side of town that she always bought weed from, and left Phoebe to wait patiently in the car. About ten minutes later, she returned with a smile and a suspicious bulge in her left pocket. 

“That’s loud as hell,” Phoebe said with a laugh. 

“Only the best for you,” was the dry response. Phoebe couldn’t quite tell if she’d meant that as a joke or not. 

A few hours later, Phoebe finally discovered the location of her birthday party: the Banner house. It wasn’t really surprising; the only viable options were usually Ella’s house and occasionally Patience’s or Hunter’s, depending on whose parents were home. 

“Can’t believe you goons got Bonnibel to agree to this,” she muttered, still wearing a pleased smile as Patience opened the car door for her and let her lead the way up to that warm red door. 

“Oh, it wasn’t hard. She cares about you and she knew Lolly wouldn’t mind.” 

“Maybe we should have parties here more often then,” came her observation as she opened the front door, finding it unlocked as she had come to understand it usually was during the day. 

Patience snorted. “Yeah, and take away all the fun Ella has trashing her parents’ house every other weekend? Imagine her horror.” 

Phoebe laughed, but by then they were entering the main kitchen, which happened to contain all of their friends (including Marceline, which was nice, Phoebe hadn’t really seen her around in a while, but she knew she’d been hanging out with Bonnie again) waiting around the island, which had been stacked with presents, a few boxes of tacos, and what was presumably a cake sitting in a neat white box. 

_“Happy birthday Phoebe!”_

“Aw, thanks, you guys, you didn’t have to do all this,” she said, blushing lightly as she noticed the red, orange, and yellow decorations and balloons that littered the house. 

“Oh come on, this all only took like an hour,” said Ella with her usual sass, “It’s hardly even a party if it takes less than a week to completely set up.” 

“Maybe in your world,” countered Bonnibel with a smile, “But when you do things _efficiently_ , even the most extravagant party can be taken care of in a few hours at the most.” 

“Girl I know you’re a genius, but you’re just not correct on this one,” Ella replied with a disappointed shake of her head. 

“Can you two stop arguing about things that don’t matter so we can get this party started?” Jake interrupted, eyebrows raised expectantly as he glanced at the food. 

“ _Fine_ ,” Ella said, throwing up her hands, “As long as we can smoke first.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” was Jake’s solemn response, hand over his heart, causing Lady and Finn to giggle at the theatrics. 

“Alright,” Bonnibel agreed, “Let’s go out back then. I don’t really want to make Lolly’s house smell like your third-rate weed.” 

“Excuse me,” was Patience’s offended retort, “But for one thing, _I_ bought some _very good_ weed today for the occasion, thank you very much. And secondly, since when do you know anything about the quality of weed?”

“Well,” said Bonnie smoothly, “I am from California, you know. It’s legal there, basically more common than cigarettes at this point.” 

Patience chuckled, and Phoebe couldn’t help getting distracted by the lovely contrast of her straight white teeth against her cherry red lipstick. 

“Banner, you’re fifteen, and you had never smoked until you moved here. Just _living_ in California is not enough to make you an expert,” was Patience’s sarcastic reply. 

Marceline snickered from where she was sitting beside Bonnie, immediately causing her to whip around. “I don’t know why _you’re_ laughing, Marceline, you told me two days ago you only use cones because you can’t figure out how to roll joints and you’re too embarrassed to ask any of your friends to teach you.” Privately, Phoebe thought the two girls had quite a charming dynamic already. It was turning out to be a good thing that Bonnibel had reached out to Marceline. 

“Oh, Marcy,” Finn said with a sad shake of his head. “That’s just sad.”

Jake loudly cleared his throat. “As hilarious as this conversation is becoming, why don’t we take it outside?” He began shooing the group through the living room to the patio door, where they all settled on the outdoor furniture. Phoebe was sitting in between Bonnie and Patience, trying not to think about the fact that Patience’s leg was resting against hers, and there was no space between them. 

Jake handed Patience a small tray from Finn’s backpack, and Phoebe studied her as she began rolling the first blunt of the day. She had the hands of a pianist, despite having no particular interest in learning any kind of musical instrument. Nimble fingers split open a Swisher before dumping the tobacco into the nearest trash can, a pink tongue darting out a few moments later to seal the final product. 

With a smile, Patience lit it, taking a long hit before passing it to Phoebe. “Happy birthday.” 

“You don’t need to say it all day,” Phoebe muttered, feeling the blush rise, averting her eyes, but the taller girl only laughed, casually throwing her arm around Phoebe as she did so, before leaning in close to her ear. 

“I’ll say it as many times as I want to,” Patience murmured in a low tone, her breath ghosting over Phoebe’s ear, before suddenly pulling away as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Phoebe’s brain was nearly short-circuiting. 

_I - was she - did that - I don’t -_

She took a long hit to steady herself, feeling her lungs expand as the smoke settled, before releasing it all. There was something incredibly satisfying about smoke, the gray curl moving towards the heavens, the faint burn in her throat afterwards. Maybe she just liked the aftermath of a good burning. 

Around her, her friends were talking about something she couldn’t quite focus on. She heard Hunter vehemently disagreeing with Ella about something - typical - and she was doing a good job of pretending to listen, but her mind couldn’t budge from thoughts of Patience. She hardly even noticed when they went inside for cake and drinks, until it was time to blow out the candles. 

_Well. I think you know what I’m wishing for._ She smiled as the flames went out, and tried to stay in the present as she opened up the pile of gifts her friends had assembled. Soon enough, another hour had passed, and they were heading outside to smoke once again. 

Turns out, all she needed was a little more weed in her system, because twenty minutes later, she found herself gently tugging on Patience’s arm. The other girl looked at her with rapt attention. 

“What’s up, Pheebs?” Luckily, Patience’s tone was low enough for their conversation to go unnoticed by the group, who continued their recently-begun, half-high, half-drunk debate on whether or not gift cards were ‘a thoughtful gift’. 

“Do you think we could talk for a second?”

Patience smiled softly, nodding, before standing and informing the group that she and Phoebe were ‘getting some drinks from the house’. 

By the time they made it into the kitchen, Phoebe’s heart was pounding in her chest. She was certain Patience could hear it, and her courage was beginning to drain. _Time to speak._

“Look, Patience, I just wanted to say that -” 

“Let me stop you right there,” Patience said immediately, holding up a slim hand. “I think I know what you’re going to say.” 

“Oh,” was all Phoebe could say, feeling suddenly very stupid and very small. _Fuck, I should’ve just kept my mouth shut, I just ruined everything, fuck fuck fuck -_

“I think you should let me speak first,” Patience continued, taking a deep breath. Her eyes were piercing. Phoebe knew Patience saw right through her, knew she had never been so _seen,_ so deeply known and understood, and for this reason she knew this rejection was going to be unspeakably painful. 

Of course, Phoebe was wrong. If Patience saw right through Phoebe, Phoebe had a blindfold on where Patience was concerned. It was an unfortunate imbalance, but to be fair, Patience did a far better job of keeping her feelings hidden. 

“Phoebe, I think it’s time I told you that I’ve been in love with you for years.” 

_Oh. Well._ “I genuinely was not expecting that,” was the first response her brain could muster. Her face was on fire, she knew the blush was probably an embarrassing shade of red, but she didn’t care anymore. “In love? _Years?_ Way to steal my thunder, St. Pim.” 

Patience was laughing now, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. “What can I say? I like to play the long game. And actually, you were trying to steal _my_ thunder. I had an entire plan to confess my love to you at the end of the party tonight. Really threw a wrench in my plan, Pheebs.” 

Phoebe was giggling; she couldn’t help it, because Patience was pulling her over gently by the elbow, and a second later, Patience was kissing her. 

_Cherry chapstick. Of course._

A moment later, Patience pulled back. They were both smiling. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, I’m so glad you two are done dragging this out,” came the tired, sardonic tone of Ella Parks herself, standing in the doorway. 

“Way to ruin the most romantic thing I’ve ever done, Parks,” Patience responded dryly. 

“You mean the _only_ romantic thing you’ve ever done, right? Besides, you should’ve known someone would walk in on you, this is the _kitchen_ at _Bonnie’s house_ and it’s a _party_ and, oh yeah, _all of your friends are twenty yards away.”_

“She has a point,” Phoebe felt obligated to point out. 

“Thank you, Phoebe,” Ella said with a gracious air as she retrieved another Twisted Tea from the fridge. “Now come on, you two, let’s go tell everyone the good news!” With a smile and a wink, Ella took off outside again, doubtlessly to immediately tattle on them. 

“It’s a shame,” Patience remarked after the blonde was gone, “I was hoping we could keep that to ourselves and screw with our friends for a couple days. You know, pretend things went south and we had a horrible falling out before revealing that we’re actually Maple Valley’s new number-one power couple.” 

Phoebe laughed. “Yeah, that would’ve been a lot of fun. Well, that’s even better. Hey, since they’re probably having a hell of a lot of fun talking about us behind our backs, why don’t we go make out in the coat closet and give them some more time to speculate?” 

Patience was smiling wider than she’d ever seen. “I knew you’d be perfect for me, Phoebe. Let’s go.” 

Later that night, Phoebe found herself curled up on Bonnibel’s couch. Most of them had decided to sleep at the Banner house, with the only exceptions being Maja and Lady. Long after everyone else had fallen asleep, (including Patience, who slept on the floor right next to the couch in an old sleeping bag Lolly’d had lying around) it occurred to Phoebe that they’d never actually defined their relationship. They’d never actually said they were dating. 

Phoebe spent around thirty minutes turning this over in her mind, until she heard Patience roll over. A moment later, the tall girl was blinking up at her. 

“You’re still up,” Patience said in a raspy, tired voice. 

“Yeah,” Phoebe said softly. “You should go back to sleep. Don’t you work in the morning?” 

Patience nodded. “I can’t fit up there. Will you come down here?” 

Phoebe thought about it briefly, aware that the floor wouldn’t be comfortable, and aware that Bonnibel and Marceline (who had, quite conspicuously, both slept in Bonnie’s room that night) would probably see them and make fun of them in the morning, but then again, it didn’t really matter. Patience wanted her company, so she climbed down to the floor and crawled into the sleeping bag. There wasn’t much room with both of them in it, so it was a good thing the air conditioner was excellent, because otherwise the heat would have become stifling. 

Now in Patience’s arms, snug in her embrace, Phoebe’s mind settled down and began to drift. It didn’t matter, she realized. For once, she knew exactly where she stood with Patience St. Pim. 

The last thing she was aware of was the feeling of Patience pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She’d never felt so content in her entire life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Finally got the Devil and the Sun together :) If anyone knows or can guess why I use those callsigns for Phoebe and Patience, leave a comment below for bonus points :) 
> 
> Anyways, once again, so sorry about the unexpected hiatus, and the short word count of this chapter. I just wanted to get this chapter out, honestly. Hopefully the next one will be better. Hope everyone's doing well, and thank you for your continued interest and support. As always, I'd love to hear what you think of the story.


End file.
